A Summertime Dream
by The Dark Knight's Princess
Summary: AU: Casey Novak is transferring schools and it's the summer of her sophomore year in college. Now living with her aunt and insane cousin, Casey comes to terms with what it's like to have friends who stick with you no matter what and she experiences what it's like to fall in love with someone who only seems to exist in those stories you hear about 'true love'. AC Pair Mega-xover.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So…I had a bunch of ideas floating around in my head and this one won out because of several reasons. One of those reasons is that I think it's going to be light and fun and not overly dramatic like a lot of my other ones which will really a great change for me.**

**Another reason is that I'm going to consider this to be an 'All-Star' fic and if you watch a lot of television, you'll get what I mean. I just got tired of coming up with a bunch of names for OCs when I realized I can just borrow real people. And when I say borrow some people, I mean I have full intentions to borrow some people. So you will be thoroughly surprised at who will show up in this story. You may know them, you may not, you never know. Like I said, if you watch a lot of television, you might find yourself going 'I know them!' quite often, hehehe. **

**Also, did I tell you guys? I'm getting married! I got engaged while on my little island getaway. I might've mentioned it in passing but I can't remember if I actually made an announcement or not. Not that I needed to, but I thought it would be cool to anyway.**

**Anyhow, enough of my mouth, onward with this fic!**

**Disclaimer: If you belong to NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, TNT, USA, or any of those other things I might've missed, I most certainly do not own you, even though I wish I did. **

Casey Novak huffs quietly to herself as she heaves her suitcase off of the luggage carousel. She has been awake since three a.m., she's tired, her feet her, and she would like something else to eat other than gross airline food. Honestly, the food on the plane was so bad, Casey halfway considered putting one of her own hairs in it just so she could complain to the flight attendant. And that's another thing; the flight attendant who was a complete bitch just because she didn't want to be at work.

Double checking her large suitcase and her carry-on, Casey shifts through the flowing crowd of people and makes her way over to the side that reads baggage claim. She parks her suitcase by her feet and pulls out her cell phone only to see that she's gotten several text messages and voicemails from her mother, all reading along the lines of 'have a safe trip!' and 'call me when you land!'.

Casey giggles quietly to herself as she scrolls through her contacts and finds the one labeled 'Mom'. Hitting the quick dial button, she puts the phone to her ear and isn't the least bit of surprised when she is greeted with an excited squeal after only two solid rings.

"Oh gosh, Casey, dear! I was worried that your flight had gotten delayed and you weren't able to call me!' The worried voice of Brenda Novak exclaims from the other end of the line. 'How are you feeling honey? Do you need Mommy to come and get you?"

Casey can't help but roll her eyes at this, though a half smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "Mom, for one, I just landed. I'm standing by the baggage claim waiting for my ride and two; I'm not a baby anymore Mom, I'm about to be a sophomore in college. I told you that you don't have to worry about all that stuff anymore. I can take care of myself."

"Cassandra, just because you are a 'sophomore in college' does not mean that you are no longer my daughter," Brenda chides with a click of her tongue and it's almost as if Casey can just imagine her shaking her head in disapproval. "I just wanted to make sure that you are alright. I know that you weren't handling this transfer thing well, but your father and I think it will be good for you."

"Yeah, I've kinda gotten over it. I was a little bummed at first about leaving my friends back home, but hey, it's California. How bad can it be?"

"That's the spirit, Casey! It's always good to go in with a positive attitude. Besides, it's not like you will be completely alone. Your cousin will be there to guide you and I'm sure she will help you make plenty of friends."

Casey groans quietly at the thought before she leans her head against the wall. "Mom, it's not even like that. You know how different the two of us are. Her friends are probably extremely weird just like she is."

"Oh now Casey, you don't mean that. She's a very sweet girl."

"You're right. I don't mean it and I love her to death, but Mom, you gotta admit that she's weird."

"I shall speak no such things about my own niece." Brenda states haughtily before hastily continuing on. "Mainly because I'm sure Constance has ears like a bat and she would be able to hear me all the way up here in New York."

Casey grins at this before she giggles quietly. "That's Aunt Constance for you." she giggles before her tone falls serious. "Mom, does Constance know about…me?"

Brenda is silent for a long moment on the other end of the line before her quiet sigh can be heard. "Casey, honey I…" she begins, before she pauses to sigh again. "I don't think she does and I think that it will be in your best interest to not tell her…right away."

"Great, so you're basically telling me to hide who I am? And how long am I supposed to do that Mom? Until they come up with some kind of 'cure' for me?"

"Casey, don't talk like that; you know that your father and I have absolutely no problem with it. Constance is just…well, she's very different from me and if you're going to be living with her for the rest of your college years, then you're going to have to get used to how she is. I just know right now would probably not be a good time to tell her. You know the last time she saw you-"

"I wasn't like this." Casey finishes off as she rolls her eyes again and places a hand on her hip. "Right. Well, look Mom, I should probably get going and start looking for my ride. I'll send you a text when I get to the house to let you know I got there safely, alright?"

"Alright sweetheart. I love you, Casey, please know that and I already miss you terribly."

A sincere smile spreads across Casey's face as she listens to her mother's voice. "I love you too, Mom. Give Dad a kiss for me." she responds before ending her phone call with her mother.

Sighing quietly, the redhead slips her phone back into her pocket before she crosses her arms. After about a moment or so, she glances at her watch and a small frown creases on her forehead when she sees that it's about a quarter past four. Her ride should've been there ten minutes ago.

Looking around, Casey's frown only increases when she spots a strawberry blonde standing around fifteen feet away, looking around as if she's trying to locate something; or someone. Grabbing her bag, Casey slowly makes her way over to the young woman and gives her a careful analysis before speaking up.

"Um…Maura?"

Upon hearing her name, Maura Isles blinks rapidly before she spins around and comes face to face with the voice's owner. A small look of confusion passes over her face before it is replaced with a shocked look of excitement.

"Casey? Oh my god, is that you!?" she exclaims before pulling Casey into a tight hug. "Oh my god, I swear that I didn't recognize you! You look so…different! You've gotten taller to! Oh my gosh, this is such a surprise."

"Maura,"

"Wait until Mom sees you,"

"Maura…"

"And you have no idea how excited I am that you're going to be living with us and-"

"Maura!" Casey snaps, placing both of her hands on her cousin's shoulder. "Please. One thing at a time. I'm starting to feel the consequences of jetlag."

Maura places a hand to her mouth as she giggles quietly. "Right, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overwhelm you all at once. I'm just really excited that you're here." She explains before perking up even more. "C'mon, let's get you home. Mom will be so excited."

"Right." Casey murmurs under her breath with a sigh as she allows for her cousin to take one of her bags as they exit the airport and head towards the car park. As they make their way through the rows of cars, Casey pauses and shakes her head when Maura comes to a stop. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You can put your other suitcase in the back." Maura instructs as she carefully places the redhead's carry-on into the backseat of her Prius.

"You have an extremely girly car." Casey states with a chuckle as she places her bag in the back before she climbs into the front seat where she notices Maura waiting for her. "Extremely girly, Maura."

Maura shrugs innocently as she starts her car and pulls out of the parking lot. "I don't know what you're talking about. I think my car is cute. Besides, it's efficient for the environment considering it's biodegradable fuel and all natural-"

"I think I get the idea." Casey cuts in with a tiny smirk, moving to a new topic of conversation before she is dragged into one in which she has no idea of what the hell is going on. "So, uh, is Constance really that excited about seeing me?"

"Oh definitely. She had Greta, clean the house and make sure that your room is all set up for you. Greta's our maid. She comes Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Just a little heads up before you get there."

"So I'm not creeped out by a little old woman folding my underwear? Noted."

"You're so funny. My friends are gonna love you."

Casey pales briefly before she chuckles nervously. "Your friends right…" she murmurs quietly. As they come to a stoplight, she sighs quietly before turning to look at her cousin. "Listen Maura, before we get home, there's something I think you should know. Just in case you somehow find out, you won't be as surprised."

Maura's grin doesn't waver as she nods her head vigorously. "I'm sure whatever it is can't be that surprising, but it sounds pretty important. What is it?"

"Well, it's about me. Um…" Casey trails off as she nervously twiddling her thumbs. "Well, uh, I…I'm gay."

"You…you're what…?"

"I'm gay Maura. A lesbian. I like girls and not just in the platonic way."

Maura waves her hand as she shakes her head and turns her attention back to driving. "No, no, I know what it means. I was just a little surprised that you were gay…are gay."

Casey raises her eyebrows at this and tilts her head. "Is this going to be a problem with you?"

"No, absolutely not! You'll come to find yourself to be a little surprised once you meet my friends, but I don't have a problem with you being gay. I was just a little surprised." Maura exclaims before a look of some sort passes on her face. "Does mother know?"

"No, I don't think she does." Casey answers before turning the tables. "Does your mother know your friends are gay?"

"She doesn't…" the blonde responds quietly, tapping her fingers against the wheel. "But it's not going to be an issue really. Just…"

"Don't tell her right away…yeah, I got that."

Approximately twenty minutes later, Casey finds herself gazing in awe out of the passenger side window at the large mansion like house sitting on the beach coast. "You seemed to have forgotten to mention that your house is a fucking mansion." She exclaims as they pull into the garage and gets out to retrieve her things. "A fucking mansion on the fucking beach."

Maura shrugs nonchalantly as she lifts Casey's carry-on from her backseat. "I never really think about it as anything spectacular. It's just home to me." she explains before pausing up the steps to her house to look back at her cousin. "And please, try to watch your language."

Casey rolls her eyes once again before she grabs her suitcase and follows Maura up the stairs. She lets out a quiet whistle as they enter the house through one of the side doors and the inside practically makes the outside look like a tiny cardboard box. "Jesus, Maura…"

"It's home." The blonde repeats with yet another nonchalant shrug. "Mother!"

"Maura, dear." A new voice exclaims cheerfully from around a corner right before Constance Isles floats gracefully into the room with her arms out stretched towards her niece. "Oh Casey, look at you, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you."

"I was twelve the last time you saw me, Auntie…" Casey responds with a gruff chuckle as she returns the embrace but tries not to choke on the woman's perfume.

Constance simply grins as she holds Casey at arm's length to give her a better once over. "Well still. Look at you. Oh I remember when you were little and you and Maura would play outside in the mud and you'd both come in tracking mud in the house. It was just the cutest thing."

"It was also a long time ago, Mother." Maura chimes in before grabbing hold of Casey's wrist. "I'll show Casey to her room while you…do whatever it is you're doing."

"Constance always that happy to see people?" Casey wonders aloud as she flops onto her new bed with a sigh. "God, this bed is so comfortable I think I could die here." She groans pleasurably before she sits up and looks at the view just beyond her balcony. "And look at that view. Holy crap I can see the entire beach from here."

"That's usually the idea." Maura responds with a giggle before leaning against one of the many empty dressers. "Of course everything you have here is just to start you off, but you can start putting your things away. After you're done, if you're too tired then maybe I could show you around? Who knows who we'll run into."

"Yeah, one of your weird, bone digging friends." Casey thinks to herself before she sits up. "Actually, I do have a question. Do you know of any place where I can buy a pretty good surf board? I left all my boards back at home because I didn't wanna travel with them. Dad's supposed to be sending some of them later, but I just wanted to check out a new one as a housewarming gift to me I guess."

"Oh yeah! I know of a great place you can buy a surf board. I'll be sure to take you there."

"Thanks. Now get out so I can get naked and take a shower. I smell like plane."

Maura can't help but she her head and roll her eyes at her cousin's brashness. "You're so crude Casey."

"Trust me, Maur, it's one of my redeeming qualities."

**Later **

"Sam's Surf Emporium." Casey reads aloud as she and Maura walk through the door of the cozy little shop. "Doesn't look like much from the outside, but I guess the inside's okay."

"It'll have exactly what you need. Trust me." Maura responds as she treks over to the vacant counter. Her lips purse into a thin line of concentration as she examines behind the counter before she hums and returns to Casey's side. "Guess she stepped out for a minute. Well, anyway, feel free to look around. I hope you find what you're looking for."

Casey nods her head as she slowly begins to trek her way through the surf shop. Her eyes glaze over the several racks of board shorts, wetsuits, and bikinis as well as accessories such as board wax, snorkeling gear, and other swim related items. Not to mention the plethora of surf boards on display and advertised throughout the entire shop.

"Wow." She whispers to herself as one board catches her eyes. It has an elaborate design of what appear to be flames encircling where the rider is supposed to stand and all the way around the board. She gently runs her fingers over its smooth furnishing, loving how it feels under her fingers.

"I call that one the hell razor." A brand new voice says, startling Casey out of her stupor to where she turns to find a strange blonde smirking at her. "Mainly because of the flames but also partially because it can tear the hell out of the waves on the water."

"Right." Casey responds slowly before tilting her head. "And are you Sam?"

The blonde chuckles quietly before shaking her head in the negative. "No. Sam's my uncle. Well, was my uncle before he passed away. I usually don't work here. I'm just here watching the shop until my Dad gets back in town tomorrow." She explains before offering the pleasant stranger her hand. "I'm Alex."

"Casey." The redhead responds, slowly accepting the handshake that turns out to last a little longer than it should have on both of their parts.

"Cool to meet you Casey." Alex responds as she retracts her hand and awkwardly clears her throat. "I don't wanna sound like a complete jerk here, but I've never really seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"Yeah basically. I just transferred schools so I'm gonna be staying here with my cousin for a while." Casey exclaims before she sighs. "My cousin is a nutcase…"

"Alex!" Maura exclaims as she approaches the tall blonde and wraps her arms around her waist in a tight hug. "I was looking all over for you. I felt like you were hiding."

"Can't a girl go to the bathroom?" Alex responds humorously before turning her attention back to Casey. "This the cousin you were talking about? Because in that case, I think she's my favorite nutcase."

Maura giggles at this before stepping from Alex's embrace to beam at Casey. "Oh don't worry about it. A lot of people think I'm crazy. I've gotten quite used to it actually. Are you two getting acquainted well?"

"We are." Casey hums in response as she takes a brief moment to rake her eyes over Alex's jean short clad body. She quickly glances back up at Maura who is still looking to her for some kind of answer. "Uh, we are. She was just helping me look at boards."

"Yeah, so run along Maura. Maybe you can find Serena and the two of you can get together and annoy her sister." Alex teases, giving the shorter woman a playful nudge, earning her a swat to the shoulder. "You have no idea how fun it is to push her buttons sometimes."

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea." Casey grins in response before turning back to the board selection. "So is it safe to assume that you surf, Alex?"

Alex snorts in complete humor before placing her hands on her hips. "Pfft, do I surf." She begins rhetorically with a proud smirk. "Practically all the time. I'm always either catching waves with friends or just riding them solo. Whatever works best for me. My friends say I'm a pretty awesome surfer."

Casey's smile widens at this. _'God, she's hot and she surfs!'_ she exclaims mentally, though she manages to physically keep her cool. "Is that so? Then we'll have to ride together sometime. Maybe see if you can put your money where your mouth is."

"Alright then, Red, I accept that challenge. But only after you meet my girls first." Alex explains in a serious tone. "You seem pretty solid, so you're already cool with me, but the real test is getting in with them."

"I'm up for the challenge."

"Great. My friends and I do this little thing called 'Surf 'n Turf.' It's kinda like King of Hill by elimination, in a way. We each take to the waves, and we're judged by the others who don't surf in a completely unbiased fashion."

"Oh, so it's kinda like a mini surf comp. among friends."

"Yeah, you could say that." Alex answers with a grin before tilting her head. "So, you up for it?"

Casey bites down on her bottom lip for a brief moment, letting the silence linger between the two of them before she nods her head. "Alright. I'm in. Just give me a time and a place and I'll be there."

Alex's steely blue eyes light up in excitement as her grin widens to show off her perfect teeth. "Cool. Tomorrow morning, six a.m. East Rock shore. Shouldn't be too far from where you live if you're staying with Maura." She explains before her grin turns into a smirk. "And you're probably gonna need a board."

Casey turns her attention to where the blonde is now not-so-subtly glancing at the board she was checking out earlier. "Why do I feel like you were only nice to me because you were trying to make a sale?" she inquires playfully.

"Maybe." Alex quips in response before she steps closer, "Or maybe I was just trying to be courteous to a beautiful woman who walked into my shop." She whispers seductively before throwing a nod over her shoulder. "You know your cousin is pretty hot."

"Ass." Casey mumbles, nudging the blonde on the shoulder as she begins to burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. "It's only because you're cute that I'll buy the board."

Alex quirks an eyebrow in curiosity, as she takes the board from its rack. "Cute? Just cute? Not overly sexy surf goddess? But just cute?"

Casey giggles quietly before shaking her head as she follows Alex to the counter. "Just cute, until you prove yourself on the waves. Then maybe we'll see from there."

"That'll be four fifty two." Alex states as she rings up the price for the board."

"Four fifty two? The price tag said it was seven twenty three." Casey exclaims in confusion.

"Employee discount." Alex replies with a nonchalant shrug. "You know, from the cute sales associate."

Casey rolls her eyes as she hands over her credit card. "Never nice act of kindness. But still just cute."

Alex winces in mock pain as she clutches her heart. "Ouch, damn. I was hoping I would at least get adorable out of that." she hisses before handing Casey her recent.

"Maybe next time, after I kick your ass in your own Surf 'n Turf tomorrow." Casey teases as she collects her purchase.

"You're seeming pretty confident in yourself, Red. I'm getting a little worried that you might get your feelings hurt when you meet my friends."

"Don't worry about me just make sure you bring your A game tomorrow."

Alex chuckles and shakes her head as she watches the redhead walk out of her shop. She takes a much needed deep breath to calm her suddenly racing heart and all she can do is shake her head once again.

"Damn she's hot."

**And this is only the beginning. Leave your thoughts! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Geeeez this long ass chapter, lol, I didn't mean for it to turn out this long, I got kind of carried away. I wanna thank you guys for all of your congratulations. My fiancée and I are very excited. **

**Tracer0403: You might have a little bit of idea, but not completely. I'm going all out for this one. **

**iTrick1984: Lol, I know how that could be seen, but not in this story. **

**Onward with the story!**

Casey awakens the following morning with her thoughts on a certain blonde from a certain surf shop. A small, school girl like smile spreads across her face as she sits up in bed amongst and sighs peacefully amongst the covers. She glances out over her balcony to find the sun just barely beginning to peak over the horizon as waves roll beautifully against the water and crash against the shore of the beach. Honestly, she wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning.

Taking care of her morning routine, she glances at her watch to see that it's about a quarter to six a.m. and as she pulls her door open, she is startled to find her cousin standing on the other side, beaming at her expectantly. "Jesus Maur, you can't—you can't do stuff like that this early in the morning!" she exclaims, placing a hand over her rapidly beating heart.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so excited about your big day!" the blonde exclaims as she grabs the taller woman by the wrist and pulls her from the room.

"Maura, you act like this is my first day going off to college." Casey supplies with an eye roll as she grabs her board and they quietly make their way down the stairs, careful not to disrupt a sleeping Constance, wherever she may be. "I'm just going to hang out with a cool group of people."

Maura pauses and quirks an eyebrow at this. "How do you know they're cool?"

Casey thinks for a brief moment before she shrugs nonchalantly. "Well, I mean they surf, c'mon. That automatically makes them cool in my book." She exclaims as the two of them climb into Maura's car.

"They'll love you, I'm sure they will." Maura explains with a small giggle as she sets off down the road. "Where we're going is probably only ten minutes away from here. I'm sure you'll love it just as much as the rest of us do."

Casey hums and nods her head in response as she sets about staring out the windows at the beautiful morning sky. Back home in New York she would most likely never be up this early for anything, even if her friends did claim to have something 'cool' to do. Her friends' ideas of cool consist of hanging out at shopping malls and things of the like. It's not that Casey doesn't enjoy shopping, she does, she also likes to enjoy freedom, and surfing gives her a whole new kind of feeling to the word freedom.

Casey grabs hold of the door as the terrain suddenly changes and she finds them going down a small hill of sand down towards the beach where she spots a small patch of people. They slow to a stop in between a vacant white jeep, and a truck that has a tall brunette occupying the front seat talking to another on the outside while a blonde is in the back bed removing supplies. As soon as Casey and Maura exit the car, there is a loud blare that causes everyone in the proximity to flinch.

"Damnit Abbie! No one cares you got your horn replaced!" The blonde in the truck bed practically screeches as she stomps her foot for emphasis.

"But Babe! Listen to it! It's perfection!" Abbie exclaims with her southern twang as she honks her horn again, causing her friend next to her to chuckle. "I was just showing Liv that I got the problem fixed."

"The old one sounded like the roadrunner from Looney Tunes." Liv comments before shaking her head.

"I actually think I like the roadrunner horn better." Maura mutters as she and Casey approach the trio. "Guys, this is my cousin Casey. Case, that's Olivia Benson, Abbie Carmichael, and then her girlfriend, Serena Southerlyn." She explains, putting to her friends respectively.

Casey tucks her board under her arm before offering a wave to the group. "Uh, hi." She greets, before chuckling awkwardly. "Some horn you got there."

Abbie's grin widens before she nods her head vigorously. "Hell yeah!" she exclaims before putting her hand on the steering wheel."

"Abigail, I swear to god if you blow that horn one more time I'm going to make you swallow it." Serena warns with a deadly glint in her eye as she hops down from her girlfriend's truck. She huffs and shakes her head before she approaches the cousin duo and pulls Maura into a hug, as she looks to Casey. "Maura has been talking nonstop about your arrival. She's really excited that you're staying here with her. It's really cool to meet you."

"Same to you." Casey offers with a respectful nod and a grin. Though she is excited about meeting new people and making new friends, she can't help but allow her eyes to wander off in search of a certain blonde.

"Looking for someone?" a smug voice says, causing Casey to jump and turn around.

"No." Casey quips with a smirk of her own, attempting to rival the one on Alex's face. "I was just beginning to wonder if you were afraid of me and chickened out."

There is a ceremonial 'ooo' from the other women before Alex holds up her hand and places the other on her hip. "Alright, alright. She's got a lot of talk, but we're about to see if she can hold her own out here on our waves. This isn't New York , sweetheart."

"Aw, man, she's a Yankee?!" Abbie exclaims throwing up her hands as she shakes her head. "We can't be friends!"

"I'm sorry?" Casey speaks up with genuine confusion in her eyes.

Rolling her eyes, Alex gives her best friend a shove before turning back to Casey. "Abbie's from Texas. I think that's all that needs to be said."

Casey chuckles at this before nodding her head. "Ah, I get it. That makes a little bit of sense. Well, I'm not here to cause any trouble."

"I'm just kidding." Abbie exclaims with a sincere smile before she crosses her arms over her chest. "As long as you can prove yourself out there on the waves, you're good with me. Babe, toss me my board! I need to wax it. Unless you wanna do it for me?"

Serena rolls her eyes as she grabs the board and tosses it to her girlfriend. "Yeah, no. I need to take time to recollect myself after losing my hearing from your damn horn."

Casey giggles quietly as she shifts her board under her arm and follows Alex down to the beach. "Are your friends always this pleasant this early in the morning?" she asks curiously.

"Yep, but that's just who they are." Alex answers with a nonchalant shrug and a grin before looking to the redhead. "You mean they haven't scared you off yet? I'm impressed."

"It takes a lot more than that to scare me off." Casey responds with a grin of her own, suddenly feeling a blush coat her cheeks when she takes note at how Alex is looking at her. She clears her throat and awkwardly ducks her head before managing a nervous smile. "So, um, you guys do this often, then?"

Alex doesn't miss the blush on the other woman's face and she decides to file it away for further notice before she shrugs her shoulders in response to the question. "We come out here whenever we get the chance, which is pretty often. Surfing is how we all kinda got to know each other. Well, except those of us who are related. Like this crazy bitch over here who is using all my board wax!" she exclaims towards a blonde sitting some distance away waxing her surfboard.

"I told you I didn't have any!" the other woman exclaims in response. "Maybe if you had just bought me some like I had asked, I wouldn't have to use yours!"

"That's my cousin, Jennifer, but we all call her JJ." Alex explains, with a laugh.

"JJ?"

"Well, her name's Jennifer Jareau, but she's always hated being called Jennifer so we shortened it to JJ. She's pretty cool though, I think you'll like her." Alex explains before pausing briefly. "Except if she challenges you to Call of Duty. That means she's just up for embarrassing you."

"Noted." Casey responds with a grin before turning her attention back to the active waters. She sighs happily as her heart thumps with excitement as she is just itching to get into the water. "You know, we never had waves like this in New York. Not to mention, my friends weren't really that into surfing, so I often found myself on the beach alone with crappy excuses for waves."

"We get the best waves out here practically all the time." Alex answers with a sigh of her own as she glances back at her group of friends. "That's basically how I found these guys was out here on the water and we just bonded from there. There a crazy bunch of fuckers but I love them all the same. C'mon, let's get them all over here so you can meet everybody."

Approximately five or so minutes later, Casey finds herself standing in front of a group of around seven people Alex goes through introductions.

"Alright, so you met, Abbie, Serena and Liv over there. This crazy bitch over here is my cousin Jennifer." Alex begins with a smirk, earning the middle finger from the blonde in question. "Next to her is Emily Prentiss, and over there next to Maura is Penelope Garcia. Guys, this is Casey."

"Hey Casey." The group chimes simultaneously with the out of place "Sup!" from Abbie.

"Hey." Casey responds with a wave and a grin. "It's really cool to meet you all. I look forward to hanging with you guys."

"Remember what I said, Red," Alex begins wrapping an arm around Casey's shoulders. "As long as you prove you're a good as you say you are, all will be cool and you can hang with us. But if not," she finishes before doing a beheading motion with her finger.

"Alex, you're scaring the poor girl!" the bubbly blonde named Penelope shouts with a disapproving shake of her head before she goes back to her conversation with Maura. "They're all so rash sometimes, I just wonder about all of them."

"I often wonder if they all got dropped on their heads as small children." Maura supplies as she and her friends erupt into a fit of giggles.

Alex shakes her head and puts both hands on her hips as she look around. "So, it looks like we're about ready to get started!" she exclaims, clapping her hands together before her smile fades as she notices something or rather some_one_ is missing. "Wait, where is…"

As if on cue, there is a loud revving of an engine and the group looks up in time to see a royal blue mustang convertible skid to a halt causing a massive dust cloud of sand to settle in the air as the owner kills the engine.

"Why's she late?" Alex exclaims with half widened eyes. "She's never late. If anything, she's always early or on time, but she's never late."

"That might be my fault." Serena chimes in nervously as she lifts a finger and stands up to approach the owner of the car.

A rather angry brunette climbs out of the front seat and ducks out of the hug Serena attempts to offer her. "The next time you decide to go over to your girlfriend's house and stay there, take your board with you and let me know you're going to be staying there all night or just simply borrow one of hers so I don't have to tear up the house and your mess of a room looking for one of yours that I don't have to wax!"

Serena grins sheepishly as she accepts her surfboard before she attempts to innocently tilt her head. "I love you." she says in a singsong voice, attempting to defuse the situation.

"You better." The other woman replies, spinning around to retrieve her own board from her own board from her backseat before approaching the group where she is greeted with a chorus of 'late' from the group. "It's not my fault Serena is poor at making plans in advance."

"She seems happy." Casey murmurs quietly to where only Alex can hear as she finds herself slightly frightened by the aura the new comer has brought with her.

Alex chuckles quietly and gives a nonchalant waft of her hand as she shakes her head. "Nah, she's always like that. She's actually in a pretty good mood. That's Kim Greylek; she and Serena are stepsisters. If it seems like they're always at each other's throats, that's just their way of showing affection." She explains before looking at Casey with a smirk. "So you ready to get this thing started?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

"Wow, she's pretty good." Casey states with a low whistle in awe as she sits next to Alex while they watch JJ handle a pretty rough patch of waves like a pro. "Surely I thought she would've wiped out by now; those waves are out to kick ass today."

"Don't tell her this, but we all like to call her sticky feet behind her back because it takes a huge as wave to knock her off." Alex says with a chuckle before lightly bumping shoulders with her red haired companion. "So, you having fun yet?"

Casey grins widely as she nods her head and looks back out over the water. "Definitely. I had no idea just hanging out watching other people surf like this could be this much fun. Abbie, Kim and Serena are all extremely good, not to mention JJ over there who doesn't know how to fall off the damn board." She finishes off, loud enough for the blonde in question to hear as she makes her way back to the beach. Casey's grin widens when JJ offers her a wink and a peace sign in response. "I like you're friends. I think they're pretty cool. Who knew that my cousin would actually have cool friends…I was expecting you all to be a bunch of freaks with weird fascinations."

"Well don't get your hopes up because we are a group of freaks." Alex supplies humorously as she stands up and pulls Casey to her feet. "I hope you're ready, because you're up next."

"Really? You mean you're not gonna make me go last?" Casey answers with a brief look of surprise.

Alex shakes her head as her grin slowly morphs into a smirk. "Nope. I've gotta save the best for last." She concludes with a wink, laughing when she receives a shove from the redhead in response.

As Casey goes out to get into the water, Alex makes her way over to plop down between her friends where Abbie is lying back onto the sand with Serena lying next to her while Kim is practically halfway sitting on Emily. "You guys and all of this PDA." She says with a mock look of disgust on her face as she turns up her nose. "Makes me sick."

"You're just bitter because you aren't getting anything." Kim hums as she rests her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Jealousy is an ugly thing Alex, and it doesn't look good on anyone. Especially you."

Alex rolls her eyes and opens her mouth to retort but she finds herself immediately cut off by Abbie. "As much as I hate to agree with her, Kim is right. You're jealous." The southern brunette states before she sits up with a smirk. "But you won't be jealous for long. Seems to me like there's some kind of spark of tension between you and Red Riding Hood out there."

A frown crosses Alex's face as she turns to look at Casey also riding the waves like a pro as she peppers with waves with tricks. "What? No way. Not even. I hardly even know her."

"So? I hardly even knew Abbie when we first had sex and now look at us." Serena explains with an innocent blink.

"There's a difference between getting to know someone and then getting to know someone during a one night stand." Emily chimes in, earning a snicker from Alex and Kim though Abbie and Serena collectively roll their eyes. "I'm just saying. It's different."

"Yeah, Princess? How long was it until you manage to get tight pants over there into bed?"

"It was actually after our fifth date."

"Don't call me tight pants." Kim warns in a deathly serious tone as she glares holes into the brunette across from her.

Alex rolls her eyes and holds up her hands between her friends. "Peace amongst us, children. Besides, it doesn't even matter. I hardly even know Casey, so it's not like that."

"Yet." The four other women chime simultaneously causing Alex to roll her eyes for probably the hundredth time that morning.

"You guys are being idiots." She murmurs, though deep down she has no idea how true that really is.

Casey wrings the water out of her hair before she shakes it out and drops her board on the sand. She pauses to do a ceremonial bow as the others erupt into applause and cheers as she makes her way back onto the beach where she finds Alex waiting for her with a cocky smile. "Impressed yet? Your friends seem to be."

Alex laughs at this and glances back at her friends briefly before turning back to Casey. "I'll admit, you are pretty good. You talk a mean game but you were able to back that up."

"I suppose you're going to show me how it's really done now, huh?" the redhead quips, tilting her head to the side as she notices the briefly off guard look flash across Alex's face before it's covered up by that damn arrogant smirk.

"It good you already know." Alex chirps in response as she picks up her board and heads out into the water.

Casey takes a brief moment to admire the blonde's backside before she shakes herself out of her stupor and heads over to where her cousin is sitting amongst her friends and she plops herself down amongst the group. "So that was okay?"

"That was awesome!" Olivia exclaims, clapping the newbie on the shoulder. "I don't care what Alex might say, but you're cool with me."

"Same here." JJ adds in with a smile. "I like your tricks out there. Where'd you learn how to do all that?"

Casey thinks for a moment before she shrugs. "Nowhere, I guess. Back home, I never really had a whole lot to do so I managed to teach myself how to surf. All the cool tricks and stuff? Well, I guess those came at the courtesy of good ol' Youtube."

"That's really amazing that you were able to teach yourself how to surf from the internet." Garcia adds, clapping her hands together out of excitement. "It's no wonder that Alex is quite smitten with you."

"And you the same." Maura adds in with a grin of her own.

Casey, who looks completely taken aback shakes her head vigorously and holds up her hands in defense. "Whoa, wait a minute. Smitten? With Alex? No, no, no, you've got it wrong. We only met just yesterday, we barely even know each other."

"It only takes a few moments for two people to fall in love." Penelope supplies in a dreamy yet cryptic fashion.

"Garcia, don't go putting words into her mouth." JJ warns carefully before turning her attention back to Casey. "But she's right. Alex is most definitely attracted to you. She never brings anyone out here to meet us right away."

Olivia hums in agreement as she nods her head. "That's true. Anyone Alex is ever 'involved with' we either only meet her briefly after a month or only two or three of us meet her and the others go by stories. Not once has she ever brought a girl out here to meet all of us at once, not to mention show her what she does."

"You're special." Maura squeals, bumping shoulders with her cousin who simply continues to shake her head.

"Well, I think you guys are just looking into it too much. There isn't anything between Alex and me."

"Right." The others drone in unison sarcasm.

Meanwhile, Alex shakes her head as she tries to get herself to focus and catch a wave. She has no idea why this is so much of a struggle for her at the moment. She never has any kinds of problems catching waves and riding them because that's simply what she does. Perhaps it may have a little to do with the fact that her mind is on a certain redhead.

When she first laid eyes on Casey in the surf shop, she felt her entire world shift. It's as if all of those other girls she used to date didn't matter anymore and the only thing that seemed to matter was getting to know Casey. She doesn't know why, but she just feels like she has to get close to Casey and somehow manage to not fuck it up like she has those other times.

As she approaches a wave she has taken a liking to, her mind continues to wander back to the beautiful redhead. Her smile, her laugh, her hair, her body; everything about her is just simply amazing. Because she is so focused on thinking about Casey, Alex completely miscalculates her trick and the size of the wave and she soon finds herself tumbling pitifully into the water with her board landing beside her.

"Damnit!" she swears, splashing the water angrily once she breaks the surface. One things she and her friends agreed upon when they started with is that as soon as you wipeout, your run is done and much like her cousin, Alex is known for never wiping out.

"Aw, Cabot what happened?" Her friends tease jokingly as she makes the walk of shame back up the sand.

"Hey, shut up." She mutters, tossing down her board in embarrassment.

"That what the surf goddess is usually capable of?" Casey teases as she saunters her way up to the blushing blonde.

Alex is silent for a moment before she regains her cool and manages to smirk. "Just a little off my game today I guess." She admits with an innocent shrug before she offers her hand. "You're a good surfer, Casey. You can hang with us any time."

Casey beams at this and as she shakes the blonde's hand, it's much like before to where the handshake lasts a bit longer than normal. She takes her hand back and awkwardly clears her throat as she tries not to check out a dripping wet Alex in her bikini. "T-Thanks. That's…means a lot."

"So, um, I was wondering if maybe you'd like too-" is as far as Alex gets before she is interrupted by the revving of a car engine.

A black jeep blasting loud music skids an obnoxious circle around the group of friends, coating the majority of them in sand before sliding to a halt. Casey blinks in confusion as the vehicle is occupied by three brunettes and a blonde where the brunette occupying the passenger side hangs her head out of the window.

"I thought I told you losers to stay off my beach." Her husky voice sneers cockily.

"It's a free country, Jane, which means we can come to the beach whenever we want." Alex snarks back, folding her arms as Abbie and Liv move to stand up behind her. "Back off Rizzoli."

Jane laughs bitterly at the attempt to scare her off. "Wow, that's your threat? Back off?" she laughs again before leaning back to glance at the woman in the driver's seat. "What do you think, Z? You think back off is a good enough threat for us to leave."

"I think not." Ziva David's accented voice drawls as a sinister smirk slowly splits her features.

"Didn't think so." Jane hums nonchalantly before leaning out of the window once again. "Sorry, losers, but I don't take orders from a bunch of panty waste surfers."

Abbie growls somewhere in the back of her throat before pointing an angry finger. "You and your piss ants need to fuck off and go back to wherever the fuck you came from. I'll kick your ass too just like I kicked your buddy's. Is Sidle still at home crying like the little bitch that she is after I punched her in the face?"

"Abbie…" Serena warns worriedly as she grabs a hold of her girlfriend's arm, attempting to pull her back only to be shaken off.

Jane however, is completely unfazed by the comment. "Oh shut up, cowgirl, I bet Bones back there could kick your pathetic ass even being as scrawny as she is."

"Excuse me?" the one called 'Bones' exclaims from the backseat with a scowl.

"I'd wager on that." Amanda Rollins mumbles with a dark chuckle of her own."

"Is that a bet you're willing to take Rizzoli?" Abbie challenges, before her gaze shifts to the woman in the backseat before she cracks her knuckles. "I'll tear her apart. Let's go, Brennan."

Jane smirks before halfway spinning around in her seat. "Go for it."

"What? No, no, Jane, I don't fight!"

"C'mon, she's a pussy, you can take her."

"Later." Ziva chimes in narrowing her eyes at the group outside of her car. "There's too many of them."

Jane huffs quietly before slumping in her chair. "Fine. I suppose we'll let them to this time." She halfway whines before turning completely serious as she glares at the group. "But stay the hell off my beach. If I see you here again, we're gonna have some big problems which will result in my kicking Carmichael's ass."

"Who were they?" Casey asks with widened eyes, breaking the silence as the group of intruders drive off.

"A group of girls you don't wanna mess with…" Alex thinks mentally with a shake of her head, watching sadly as Serena attempts to calm a seething Abbie. "Just…don't let them get to you. It's nothing."

Casey nods her head, albeit a little skeptically before turning back to the blonde. "So, you uh, wanted to ask me something?"

Alex suddenly becomes super nervous after a while before she begins rubbing at the back of her neck. "Oh, um, yeah, I was wondering…well, do you like music? Because I know a place…"

"A place?" Casey repeats, tilting her head though she has a smirk tugging at her lips. "That's all you're gonna tell me?"

"Well, uh, yeah, it's kind of a secret…place of mine that the others don't really know about." Alex replies, shuffling her feet a little. "If you're interested I can swing by and pick you up at say maybe…seven thirty?"

Casey grins sheepishly before she nods her head. "Y-yeah, uh, seven thirty sounds…sounds great."

Alex beams brightly before she releases a breath she had no idea she was holding. "Great! Great, I'll see you then."

"Yeah, I'll see you." Casey echoes quietly as she watches the blonde move back to her friends. She releases a breath of her own and mentally swears as she realizes that Maura and Garcia might be right.

She is smitten.

**I really liked this chapter for some reason. I hope you guys did too. Leave your thoughts! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: These chapters are so much longer than normal…what is that even about. Anyhow, hope you guys enjoy! **

Casey takes another much needed deep breath as she stares at her reflection in her wall length mirror. After about four outfit changes, she had simply settled on wearing a deep red off the shoulder top complete with a dark set of jeans and her favorite pair of Converse. In the very back of her mind she knows that this isn't a date, but at the very same time, she wants to make sure that she looks her best.

She glances at the clock and realizes that it's about twenty minutes past seven and she takes her small window of time to apply a small amount of makeup. As she has just finished putting on a thin layer of eyeliner, there is a tentative knock at her door in which she calls a quiet 'come in'.

Maura pokes her head through the door with a small, only for it to falter slightly when she sees Casey all dressed and putting on makeup. "Why do you look like you're preparing to go somewhere?"

"Because I am preparing to go somewhere." Casey responds as she examines herself in her mirror once again before turning towards her cousin. "Alex wanted to show me something, so she's picking me up in around five minutes."

"Oh! Oh, I see." Maura responds as her eyes briefly fall to the floor. "I was just coming over to see if maybe you wanted to do something this evening, but since you already have plans, then that's fine."

Casey takes note of the sadness in the other girl's tone before she sighs quietly. "Sorry…well look, maybe we can do something some other time?" she offers with tilt of her head.

Maura is silent for a moment before she shakes herself out of it and nods her head. "Yeah! Of course. It's completely fine that you and Alex are bonding. I told you that it was important that you make new friends since you're going to be living here and all."

"Yeah…" Casey responds quietly, only for a car horn to be heard outside a few moments later. Her heart rate begins to increase slightly as she takes another mental assessment to calm herself. "That's probably Alex. I should…probably go."

"Have fun!" Maura exclaims with a smile as she exits her cousin's room and heads back to her own.

Casey shakes her head and quickly makes her way down the stairs and out the door to where she finds a familiar white jeep parked in the driveway. As she climbs into the car and settles into the passenger seat, she can feel a pair of eyes on her where she turns and is greeted with a grinning Alex. "Hi."

"Hey you." The blonde responds, her icy eyes glowing with excitement. "You all set."

"Yep. Ready to go." Casey answers with a school girlish grin. As they pull out of the driveway she glances up towards Maura's bedroom window to see her cousin curled up on her bed watching something on television at which all she can do is sigh quietly.

"Something wrong?" Alex inquires as she settles into a steady speed down the road.

Casey hesitates for a moment before she shakes her head. "No, nothing's wrong. Maura just wanted to do something this evening, but I told her I already had plans with you. I just feel kinda bad about leaving her back at home.

Alex nods in comprehension as she takes her eyes off the road to briefly glance at the redhead in her front seat. "I see. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on your time with your cousin or anything."

"No, don't be sorry. Besides, you had already asked me, and it's not like I was going to call you and cancel." Casey responds with a small smirk, only for a blush to hit her cheeks a mere seconds later when she realizes how hinting that may have sounded.

"Well I'm glad you were so eager to spend time with me." Alex quips with a smirk of her own as she can practically see the other woman's blush spreading down to her neck with each passing second. Taking pity on Casey's silently flustered state, she decides to strike up conversation. "You looked really good out on the waves today. I know I told you that earlier, but you really impressed everyone; including me."

"Well I'm glad you think that." Casey admits before she shrugs. "I wasn't sure how I was gonna look, especially after seeing all of the others. Your friends are all extremely good surfers."

"That's why I love them so much." Alex responds with a soft chuckle as she absentmindedly taps her fingers against her steering wheel to an ongoing rhythm in her head.

Casey nods her head and chews her lip, taking time to study the blonde for a moment before she speaks up. "So where is this that you're taking me?"

Alex's content smile morphs into her signature smirk at the question for she was just waiting for it to be asked. "A place." She supplies in a cryptic fashion, not taking her eyes off the road.

"That's it? That's all, I get?" Casey exclaims before she begins to whine. "But Aleeeex. I wanna know where you're taking me. I think I have a right to know where I'm going."

"You willingly got in the car with me, therefore I'm not obligated to tell you where we're going." Alex quips in responds, chuckling when she hears the redhead huff in response. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to take you out in the middle of nowhere and kill you or anything."

"Because that's what I was worried about." Casey drawls sarcastically as she folds her arms and looks out the window. "

Alex can't help but be thoroughly amused by Casey's attempt at stubbornness. "You know, you could always say please."

"Please?"

"No."

Casey huffs once again as she sits back against her seat. "Ugh! You are impossible."

Alex quirks an eyebrow before tilting her head in mock confusion. "You've only known me for two days and you're already saying that I'm impossible? Well that hardly seems fair."

"Well if you would just tell me where we're going then-"

"Relax Red, we're here."

Casey raises her eyebrows and peers out of the window to see 'Kincaid's' in bright glowering letters across the establishment. She tilts her head to the side in complete confusion. "You brought me to a bar?"

"Nope." Alex responds quickly as she slips out of her car.

As they make their way inside pass several patrons who simply give them nods of acknowledgment, Casey gives Alex's wrist a small tug. "Alex, I'm pretty sure that this is a bar."

"This, is a bar. But we're not going here." The blonde replies as she makes her way over to the bar.

"I'm confused." Casey says aloud with a shake of her head as she watches Alex make her way over to the bar where a short haired brunette woman with rosy colored lips is wiping the countertop with a rag.

Alex chuckles again shaking her head as she leans against the bar. "Hey Claire."

"Alex." The older woman responds with a warm smile. "I was beginning to wonder when I would see you again. I was beginning to wonder if you were hiding from me because you knew I was going to ask you about your rent."

"No, no, I'm not hiding from you. Daniel just got back from his trip today so I was watching Uncle Sam's shop while he was gone. I can give your money tomorrow." Alex explains.

"No rush. I just thought I should remind you." Claire responds before her eyes land on the rather awkward looking redhead. "Is this a friend of yours?"

Alex perks up before she vigorously nods her head and motions for Casey to come forward. "Yeah, this is Casey. Casey, this is Claire Kincaid. She owns this place."

Casey smiles politely as she shakes hands with the woman on the other side of the bar. "It's nice to meet you."

"And you as well." Claire responds, glancing at Alex out of the corner of her eye. "You must be a very special person for Alex to bring you here. The only other person I've ever seen come through here with her is that Abbie girl."

Alex blushes heavily before looping her arm through Casey's before Claire has the chance to embarrass her even further. "Right, well, we should probably be getting upstairs, it was nice talking to you!"

"Don't forget about your rent Alex."

"I won't! I promise! Money, I'll have it tomorrow."

Casey can't help but giggle quietly as she finds herself to be led out the side door of the bar. "She seems like a nice person."

"She's the greatest." Alex replies before pulling Casey towards a set of stairs that will lead them to just above the bar.

Casey follows Alex up the stairs, pausing only when the blonde has to stop and unlock a door. Soon, she finds herself ushered into a rather cozy yet spacey studio apartment and her mouth immediately hangs open in shock.

"Wow." She whispers quietly as she glances around her at the space, taking in all of the surf posters as well as shelves upon shelves of CDs and records. "Alex, this is, wow."

"Yeah." Alex responds sheepishly as she closes the door and locks it behind her. "Um, you can just make yourself at home. Can I get you anything? I have beer, coke, juice and then of course there's the um…water."

"Beer is fine." Casey responds as she approaches one of the record shelves. She raises her eyebrows as she pulls one of the sleeves to find it is one of the original records for Michael Jackson's 'Off The Wall'. As she continues to look, she spots several other vinyl records by the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, and hundreds more. "Wow…"

"Yeah." Alex says, flinching when she startles the redhead so transfixed with her collection. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Here's your beer."

"Thanks." Casey replies as she accepts the bottle and takes a small swig. "So all of this is yours?"

Alex gulps down a mouthful of beer before she nods her head. "Yep. Claire let me have it. Well, not have it. I still have to pay her rent, but it's not much and she's pretty lenient about it. But yeah, it's my humble abode. I have probably every piece of music ever made. If you ask me for it, I probably have it."

"I did see that you had the Beetles, and they're one of my favorites." Casey explains as she pulls out the record for Abbey Road. "Pop this on?"

"No problem." Alex replies, taking the record over to her antique record player where she gently places it on the turn table and lowers the needle before heading over to join Casey on the sofa.

Casey continues to look around, holding her beer bottle with both hands. "So, do you live here?"

Alex thinks for a moment before shaking her head in the negative. "Not really. I live with my Aunt Sandy and JJ. I just try to keep this place as a sanctuary for myself whenever I just need to be free of anything; as lame as that sounds."

"That's not lame." Casey responds before a curious frown crosses her face. "Wait, you don't live with your dad?"

Alex falls completely silent for a long time as she begins interested in peeling the label off of her beer bottle. "Daniel and I don't have a very good relationship." She admits quietly, her voice gone small and vulnerable.

Casey reaches over and gently places a hand on the blonde's knee. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry or anything. You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to."

"No, no, it's fine. I mean, I'd probably end up telling you sooner or later." Alex admits with a shrug before she sighs and begins. "I never got to meet my mother. She died during childbirth when she was giving birth to me. The doctors said I was a miracle I even made it. My father, Daniel, he never really wanted a child, but he loved my mother, so in a way, he blamed me for her death, and he's always resented me for it. Sandra, my aunt, decided she couldn't stand the way he was treating me and neglecting me, so she took me in to live with her. I wasn't watching the surf shop because he asked me to, I was watching it because I knew he didn't care enough about it while he was gone. I'm not sure if he even knows I had it open. But yeah, we don't talk."

"I'm so sorry. That's…that's terrible." Casey admits, blinking back tears as she sees Alex struggling to keep her emotions in check. "You didn't have to tell me all of that."

" I know I didn't, but for some strange reason, I feel like I can trust you." Alex responds with a sad chuckle before finishing off her beer as the background music of the Beatles filter softly through her apartment. "So that's my story, what about yours?"

Casey shrugs nonchalantly as she scoots forward to place here beer bottle on the small coffee table. "There really isn't much to my story. In being completely honest, I'm nothing more than a spoiled rich kid from the high ends of New York. My family has money so I've basically been spoiled all my life. Coming here is a big change for me because I'm out of what I'm used to. Not that I'm complaining. I got really tired of my stuffy life back at home. I'm glad I came."

"Well I'm glad you came too. If you hadn't I wouldn't have gotten to experience your awesome surfing skills." Alex supplies with a laugh, trying to lighten the moment.

"Thanks. So, what was the deal with those girls from earlier?" Casey asks with a curious tilt of her head. "Who were they, really?"

Alex sighs quietly as she stands up and moves to the kitchen to get another beer before she returns. "Jane Rizzoli, Ziva David, Amanda Rollins, and Temperance Brennan; a group of surfers who claim they own wherever they set foot. And that's just four of that little group. We've had trouble with them for god knows how long, but I've personally had problems with Jane for longer than that. You ever wanna see Abbie turn into Bruce Banner, bring up Jane around her. All that southern homeliness goes out the window."

Casey frowns at this as she is still highly confused. "Why does Abbie hate her so much?"

"Not my question to answer." Alex responds with a half shrug. "We try not to approach them whenever they're around, but one of them is always looking for trouble. A week ago we were out surfing and one of them, Sara Sidle, said something to Abbie which resulted in Abbie punching her in the face. Abbie's always itching to kick one of their asses. I have no idea how many times I've had to hold her back. I just don't want her to get in trouble."

"I can see why." Casey says, shaking her head in complete disapproval. "Are they always that much trouble."

"More or less. Just try to avoid confrontation if you can. I would say the only approachable one is Bones, but she doesn't travel alone. She's afraid of Abbie."

"I can see why." Casey repeats, only this time with a humored chuckle before finishing off the little that was left in her beer bottle. "This is a really nice place, Alex. It just screams you."

Alex tilts her head to the side as she smirks. "Well, I'm glad you like it." She responds quietly.

For the first time Casey takes note in how close they're sitting to one another. As the music plays softly in the back ground, she swallows thickly when she sees how closely Alex is studying her. Like a magnet, the two slowly begin gravitating towards each other, as Casey finds her eyes suddenly half lidded with desire. It is only when Alex's lips are only a millimeter's distance away from hers that she gently places a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Alex, we can't…" she says in a quiet whisper.

Alex chuckles quietly as they are now sharing breathing space. "You're right. We…probably shouldn't until we get to know each other a little better." She murmurs quietly. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not extremely attracted to you."

Casey gulps and shakily nods her head as she turns fire engine red. "I—I, thank you. I think." she stammers, managing a nervous smile while some part of her mentally kicks her brain for stopping what was probably about to be the best kiss of her life.

**Meanwhile…**

"This is a bad idea…" Emily mutters, shaking her head in complete and total disapproval. "We should just go."

"Look, Prentiss, I did not come all the way out here just to turn around because you got scared." Abbie hisses quietly as she and her two other girls are disguised by the darkness. "The sooner you stop whining about leaving, the sooner we can do this."

"We're gonna get caught!" Emily hisses in response, glaring harshly.

"We're only gonna get caught if you don't stop your whining!"

"This was a bad idea in the first place! You know it was!"

"Will you two shut up!?" Olivia whisper yells, standing between the two arguing friends. "If you keep that up, somebody's gonna hear you. Look, Emily, Abbie's right, the sooner we do this the sooner we can get out of here."

Emily purses her lips tightly before she crosses her arms. "Fine. But we're doing this quickly."

Abbie sighs quietly before running a hand through her hair. "If you don't wanna help us, at least keep look out. Can you do that?"

"Yeah I can do that. Just hurry up. I don't even want to know what would happen if we get caught." The raven haired woman mutters as she begins to scope around.

Abbie looks around before she pulls a blade from her back pocket and creeps up the driveway to where she sets to working on slashing the back tires of Ziva's jeep while Liv works on the front. Nobody threatens her friends and then gets away with it.

**Leave your thoughts!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: These chapters are considerably longer than any others I have written for other stories…and I'm not even trying to do that. Guess I'm more invested than I thought. **

**Jbcjazz: Patience….patience :) **

**Everyone RE Abbie/Jane rivalry: You'll all found out soon enough…maybe…**

"Why do you look like that?" Alex wonders seriously, studying her best friend with the utmost amount of closeness. She narrows her eyes and leans in closer to the brunette who continues to avoid eye contact. "Abbie?"

"Huh?" The Texan replies, blinking rapidly as she turns to find a pair of icy blue eyes boring into her. "Sorry what? Did you say something?"

Alex's frown deepens as she continues to study the other woman closely. "Abbie, I've never known you to be so quiet, especially over breakfast." She explains before snapping her head towards Serena. "What has she done?"

Serena shrugs her shoulders before vigorously shaking her head. "I don't have any kind of idea of what's going on. She was like this when I went over to her house last night."

Kim is about to open her mouth to put in her two scents when she notices her girlfriend's fidgety nature and how she is repeatedly tapping her fingers against the table. "You know something," she says, her words coming out as a firm statement rather than a question.

"What? No, I don't know anything." Emily replies quickly shaking her head before staring back down at her plate. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Emily…"

"I didn't wanna go, alright! Abbie guilt-tripped me into going and now I don't know why I didn't say no in the first place, I'm sorry!"

Abbie groans and slumps in her chair as she glares at the woman across the table. "Aw Prentiss, c'mon…I thought you had my back…."

Emily shrinks in her chair at the other woman's scrutinizing gaze. "Sorry…" she mumbles, moving her food around her plate with her fork, suddenly losing her appetite.

Alex sighs heavily and drags her fingers through her hair before she turns back to her best friend, this time with her full on Cabot glare going. "Tell me what you've done, and don't lie to me Abigail…"

"It wasn't anything big…" Abbie tries to deflect with a nonchalant shrug as she smiles nervously. "I mean, you know, it just kind of happened in passing."

"What did you do…" Serena speaks up firmly, her typical bubbly demeanor gone for the moment as she continues to glare warning signals into her girlfriend.

Abbie glances around at the three and a half pairs of eyes staring at her before she sighs heavily and hangs her head. "Alright fine. I was still a little pissed about what happened at the beach yesterday morning, so I wanted to get a little revenge of my own. Well, last night Emily, Olivia and I went over to Ziva's house and-"

"I was forced into the car and dragged." Emily interrupts with firmness in her voice. "Just let that be known before we continue this horrid story."

"Are you gonna let me tell them what happened or not?" Abbie snaps back before she sighs once again and continues. "Anyway, we went over to Ziva's house and well…we slashed her tires."

"I did none of the slashing. I kept look out, but I did absolutely none of the slashing." Emily points out quickly with widened eyes at the end of Abbie's tale.

"You were still an accomplice." Kim mutters with a sigh as she pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head.

Alex is completely silent for a moment before she shakes her head and crosses her arms. "I honestly can't believe you did that." she mumbles. "Damnit, Abbie, why are you always looking for a fight?!"

Abbie's mouth falls open for a brief moment before she matches Alex glare for glare. "I'm always looking for a fight?! They were looking for a fight when they showed up all high and mighty yesterday demanding that we stay off their beach! I wasn't looking for a any kind of a fight! They were all asking for it."

"You shouldn't let them get to you like that." Serena says quietly with a disappointed shake of her head. "Especially Jane. You know she just enjoys getting under your skin."

"What happened was years ago. We're all over it, why can't you be?" Kim asks with a rare amount of sincerity in her voice, though it doesn't exactly shine through her typical deadpan exterior.

Abbie rolls her eyes at the question that she deems to be rhetorical before slamming her fist down on the table. "I am over it!" she screams loudly, startling the other four women at the table.

"Yeah, sounds like you're totally over it." Emily mumbles darkly under her breath before she spots Abbie glaring at her again. "What? I'm just saying. If you were really over it then you wouldn't hate her so much. Your hate would then be deduced to a strong dislike for her, much like that of the rest of us."

"Thank you Dr. Prentiss." Abbie sneers in response. "What are you, my therapist? I don't need to 'deduce' anything. I'm fine."

Alex takes this time to chime in. She can tell that Abbie is still mad about what happened even if it was all those years ago, hell, she still is mad herself, but Abbie's anger has progressed into something of hate, and hate is just not something that Alex is about.

"Abbie…I know you're mad, but…"

"I'm not mad! I wish the four of you would stop trying to tell me I'm mad! I think if anyone would know whether or not I was mad it would be me!"

"Is there a problem?" Claire asks cautiously as she pokes her head out of the kitchen.

Alex shakes her head as she silently pulls Abbie back down into her chair. "No Claire, there's not a problem. Abbie's just gotten a little worked up."

Abbie rolls her eyes and utters several inaudible obscenities under her breath. "I wish that you guys would just see things my way. I'm getting pretty sick of all of you thinking I'm overreacting."

"You slashed someone's tires Abbie!" Serena screeches. "I would say that crosses the line of overreacting."

"But I didn't just slash someone's tires. It was Ziva! Ziva ain't someone!"

Before anyone can respond the door bursts open and the girls look up to see a rather angry woman striding in their direction with a murderous look etched across her face.

"Well you know what they say, speak of the devil…" Kim mumbles, taking a small sip of juice from her glass.

Ziva immediately dismisses the not-so-quietly stated comment before she turns her glare on a certain blonde and a rather smug looking brunette. "I know that it was you who ruined my car."

Abbie fights the urge to break out in a huge grin as she tilts her head to the side. "None of us even know what you're talking about." She remarks, before snidely correcting herself. "Then again, none of us know what you're talking about half the time away."

Ziva growls at the cheap shot towards her accent before she turns her glare on Alex. "You should learn to keep this one locked away in a box." She glowers, turning back to a sneering Abbie. "You are one to talk about not being understood. Your southern mannerisms have proven to be most…revolting."

"Listen you piece of-"

"Abbie." Alex warns firmly before addressing Ziva with a small amount of calmness in her voice. "Look, none of us have anything to do with whatever happened to your car."

Ziva's eyes narrow dangerously as she sizes up the group before pointing a lethal finger. "You do not know who you are messing with. You will pay for what you did to my car. All of you." and with that she spins on her heel and exits without another word.

There is a tense silence between the five women before Kim breaks it with a dry chuckle. "Well, that went rather well." She drones with a shake of her head.

"Ah, don't worry about her, her threats are empty." Abbie responds, leaning back in her chair as she places her hands behind her head. It's then that she takes note of the four pairs of angry eyes on her. "What? It's not like she's gonna do anything."

"It's not just her that I'm worried about." Alex mutters as she too shakes her head and rises from her seat to head over to the bar to call for Claire about settling the tab. Sometimes she wishes Abbie would think before she acts; but clearly that's just asking way too much.

**Later **

"Maura, you've hardly touched your dinner." Constance points out with worry in her voice as she continues to study her daughter closely. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Maura mutters as she absentmindedly begins to push her pasta around her plate. "I'm just not all that hungry this evening."

Constance's lips purse into a thin line for a moment before she looks around the table. "Where's Casey?"

At this, Maura shrugs and refuses to raise her eyes from her disheveled plate. "I don't know. She had plans, I suppose."

"And you didn't join her?"

"Wasn't invited…"

"Well that hardly seems fair."

Maura rolls her eyes and sighs heavily, something that her mother hardly ever sees her do in all of its rarity. "Mother it's not that big of a deal. Casey is completely entitled to make plans on her own; plans that don't include me."

Constance looks taken a back for a moment before she turns her attention back to her own dinner. "Well I'm sorry, Dear, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just curious as to why she's out having 'plans' while you're still here at home. I'm sure she wouldn't have minded if you tagged along."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't invited, okay?" Maura halfway snaps at her mother before she places her fork on her plate and rises from her seat. "I'm finished with dinner. I'm going out for a little bit."

"O-okay…please be careful."

"Yes Mother…"

About twenty minutes later, Maura pulls into the driveway behind Alex's jeep. She sighs quietly to herself and pulls her keys out of the ignition before she exits her car and heads up the stone pathway to the house. She knocks gently before ringing the doorbell and steps back, absentmindedly fiddling with her car keys.

A few seconds pass before a blonde appears at the doorway, but it's not particularly the blonde Maura is looking for. "Maura? What're you doing here?" JJ asks in genuine surprise.

"I didn't mean to show up unannounced…I was just coming to see if Alex was here." Maura wonders in response.

"Sorry, she's not. She left about fifteen minutes ago and I can't exactly say when she'll be back." JJ responds earnestly before she steps to the side. "Do you wanna come inside?"

"Thank you." Maura nods as she steps into the house. "Again, I'm sorry for showing up unannounced."

JJ shrugs nonchalantly before shaking her head. "Maura, really it's not that much of a problem." She repeats with a small laugh before her face turns serious. "Is something bothering you? You seem a little…down."

Maura immediately shakes her head though she turns around to avoid being looked at for the moment. "No, nothing's wrong. I just…" she pauses, biting down on her bottom lip for a moment before she spins around again. "Do you think I'm…weird?"

"What?"

"I know it's not necessarily something someone would usually ask you, but I really would like an honest opinion. Do you think I'm weird?"

"Well, I mean, it's not a bad weird." JJ responds carefully. "You know all of us enjoy your…weirdness. You and Garcia are very cool to have around. And between you and me, Garcia's a lot weirder than you are. Why are you asking me this?"

Maura is silent for a moment before she sighs heavily and her shoulders slump. "Because, I think that I'm too weird for Casey to hang out with me."

JJ raises her eyebrows and tilts her head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean? You're her cousin; of course she would wanna hang out with you."

"Yeah, well, she doesn't. That much is obvious. You think it's because I'm not cool like the rest of you? Is it because I don't surf? She likes to talk about surfing you know…maybe it is because I don't surf."

"Maura…"

"And maybe if I learned how to surf then she'd want to hang out with me."

"Maura…."

"Do you think one of you could teach me how to surf? Or at least teach me surfing…lingo is it?"

"Maura!"

"Yes?"

JJ sighs heavily and rubs her temples at the other blondes rambling. "You really gotta not do that…I can only understand you if you speak like a normal person at normal person speed." She states before continuing on. "I'm sure that Casey will like you for you, you're her cousin and you've known her far longer than any of us ever will. Don't let this get you down. She'll spend time with you."

Maura nods her head before glancing down at her hands. "Yes, yes, I suppose you're right." She agrees before her head snaps up. "Wait, you said that Alex wasn't here but her car is parked outside…"

"Oh yeah, she took the bike."

"The bike…?"

**Meanwhile…**

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Casey shouts over the rush of the wind as it continues to forcefully whip her hair back. As she briefly glances down at the speeding tires of the bike, she can't help but squeal quietly before she tightens her hold around the blonde's waist.

Alex feels an overwhelming sense of warmth over take her as Casey presses herself closer to her body. She mentally shakes herself reminding herself that she needs to focus on the road and on where they're going.

As they continue to speed down the road, Alex eventually slows to a stop by a secluded area of beach. She glances behind her and chuckles when she sees that Casey has her cheek pressed against her shoulder blade as she continues to hold on for dear life. "Hey Red, we're here." She says, gently shaking the redhead.

Casey cracks an eye open, peaking for a brief moment before she realizes that they are in fact no longer moving. "That was insane!" she breaths, standing on rather wobbly legs as she slides off of the back. She adjusts the backpack Alex had commissioned her to wear before she heaves a great huff. "That was by far one of the most terrifying things I've ever done in my entire life."

"That so?" Alex responds with a chuckle as she put the motorcycle keys into the backpack before slipping it from Casey's shoulder. "I'm surprised that you handled it the way you did. The last person I took for a ride on it was Kim and she screamed every time I made a turn."

"Really? She doesn't strike me as a screamer…"

"She's not, and she'd kill me if she knew I told you this story. C'mon."

Casey follows Alex down onto the beach nearly stumbling over a rock as she gets there, blushing heavily when Alex manages to catch her before she can fall. "Um…"

Alex blinks rapidly at their close proximities before she clears her throat. "Um, w—watch your step there." She stammers, her voice suddenly becoming very hoarse."

"Yeah…" Casey whispers in response, glancing down at the blonde's lips for a moment before she clears her throat. "So…we're here at the beach…."

"Yeah…" Alex echoes before she turns around and opens the backpack. She pulls out a large blanket and spreads it on the sand before she plops down and beckons for Casey to join her. "I wasn't sure what your preference for food is so you know, I made a little bit of everything." She explains as she pulls out various Tupperware containers and insulated packages.

Casey raises her eyebrows in surprise as a small smile stretches across her face. "You're just full of surprises aren't you?" she jokes as she opens a container holding warm sandwiches. "And just how many girls have you taken out on a sunset picnic on the beach?"

Alex's fork freezes on the way to her lips as a deep blush begins to creep down her neck. "Ah, not…many." She responds with a sheepish smile.

Casey giggles at being able to fluster Alex before she begins eating her sandwich. As they sit in silence admiring the sun beginning to set down past the horizon, a thought crosses Casey's mind and she finds herself looking to Alex for an answer. "Alex? Is this….um…is this a date?"

"Well…it can be whatever you want it to be." Alex responds, trying to remain cool as she shrugs before her face turns almost childlike. "But…I really would like it to be a date."

"I think…that'd be okay." Casey responds with a blush of her own as she finishes off her meal. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said last night and well…I'm attracted to you too. I just…don't want to dive into things too soon."

"I'm not going to force you into anything you're not ready for." Alex informs her with a soft, serious tone.

Casey laughs quietly before shaking her head. "I know you won't. You don't seem like that type of person." She explains herself before continuing on. "I just…I want to spend time with you."

Alex grins at this before lightly taking Casey's hand in her own. "I think that can be arranged before she brings the redhead's hand to her lips, kissing it softly. "Oh hey, there's something I wanted to ask you. I mean it's really soon, so you can totally say no, but I was wondering…well, there's this team surf competition coming up and well, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to join our team? You don't have to answer right away, but if you'd like to think it over for a little bit, you can. No rush."

"Great. I'll think it over." Casey answers before she notices that Alex is still holding her hand.

Without word, she shuffles closer to the blonde until their shoulders are touching before she gently rests her head on Alex's shoulder. A grin slowly spreads across her face when she feels Alex slip an arm around her waist and pull her closer, all the while their hands are still intertwined.

"Oh yeah, there's something else I wanted to tell you." Alex begins, gently stroking Casey's side with her thumb. "We're going neon surfing tomorrow."

"Great." Casey hums, as she continues to gaze at her fingers linked with Alex's. It takes a moment for her brain to process what was just said and she quickly lifts her head from the blonde's shoulder.

"Wait…What the hell is neon surfing?"

**What IS neon surfing? Lol, leave your thoughts! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So glad you guys are liking this story. I am too. I'm working on updates for other stuff, but with writer's block and other stuff in life, they'll come with they come, Lol. **

**Bellatisha: Let's say that they all are in college :)**

**Steple: You didn't miss it because I haven't told you yet ;)**

**Tracer0403: There's that, and I know people who actually use legit neon lights. **

**Cavak: And I must unfortunately say that they will not because I have not seen, let alone heard of that show. **

**Now that that's all out of the way; enjoy! **

"What in the hell am I about to do." Casey wonders aloud with a shake of her head as she looks down at the bright green glowing surfboard tucked under her arm. She looks up at a grinning Alex and shakes her head. "Seriously…what the hell am I about to do."

"You," Alex says, her grin widening as she hops out of her jeep. "Are about to go neon surfing. Don't look so scared, it'll be fun."

Casey nervously bites down on her bottom lip as she follows Alex down to the beach where she immediately takes note of several multi colored glowing neon outlines. She assumes that it's because of the black wetsuits that she can only just barely make out the fact that they are in fact people and not just glowing neon outlines. Giggling quietly, she shakes her head as she realizes that she would have never done something like this back at home.

Alex bumps shoulders with Casey before slipping the redhead's hand into her own before she tugs her over to her group of friends. Her grin falls slightly when she spots a red white and blue outline dangerously close to a hot pink outline and she rolls her eyes as she realizes the two are making out. "Guys seriously…" she sighs with a disapproving shake of her head.

"What, it's not like you can see what we're doing unless you're really looking." Serena's innocent voice responds and Alex can almost picture her pixie like grin.

"Yeah so stop being a perv Alex." Abbie snarks back as she proceeds to make out with her girlfriend.

"Two neon outlines moving against each other like that and they don't think people can tell what they're doing." Alex jokes with a shake of her head.

Casey shakes her head as well sets her board down onto the sand before she plops down herself, pulling Alex down with her. "I think I just wanna sit here and watch everyone for a little while."

"What? Don't tell me you're scared." Alex teases lightly.

"No, not scared. Just want to be alone with you." she whispers as she leans in closer with teasing tactics of her own.

Alex swallows thickly at their close proximities and it takes all of her natural willpower for her not to close that last bit of distance between them and capture Casey's lips in her own. As much as she would like to, she doesn't want her first kiss with the redhead to be with her best friend sucking face not even ten feet away. Something about the sound of Serena moaning in the background kind of defeats the romantic purpose of anything.

Casey grins as she realizes that she has stumped Alex and she leans in and gives the blonde a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Did I lose you there for a minute?"

"N-no." Alex stammers, having to clear her throat to become coherent once again. "I was just you know, watching them surf."

"Right." Casey hums, drawing out the word in skepticism as she too gazes out over the water. Her eyebrows slowly raise into her hairline when she spots three figures out on the water, one being a light blue outline surfing a glowing red board, another being a bright yellow outline surfing a glowing purple board, and the last being a white skeleton outline surfing a blinking neon white board. "Uh…the skeleton?"

"Kim…" Alex responds with a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Sometimes I feel like she gets too invested in this whole glow in the dark thing though she would never admit it."

Casey nods her head in understanding before she turns to give Alex a look. "And the others?"

Alex squints as she stares out into the water before she points towards the quickly moving yellow blur. "That's JJ and the blue one is Emily."

"Emily surfs?"

"Yeah. She just didn't feel like it the day we did the surf n' turf. The only people who don't surf are your cousin and Garcia."

Casey chuckles at this as she nods her head. "Figures. I can't imagine the sight of Maura on a surfboard."

Alex quirks an eyebrow in curiosity before she tilts her head. "Have you ever thought about teaching her?"

"Don't think she's ever expressed any interest in learning."

"Ah, I see. For surfing you gotta have the passion for it. Maybe you can teach her some basic things some time. You know, just to see."

"Yeah…" Casey responds absentmindedly as she begins to absentmindedly play with Alex's fingers.

Noticing this, Alex gives Casey's hand a light squeeze before she stands up and pulls Casey to her feet. "Shall we hit the waves."

Grinning, Casey picks up her glowing green board and tugs Alex towards the water. They float out into the water in unison and sit out in the blackened ocean, patiently waiting for the next wave to show.

"Aw, look at you two being all cute and holding hands." Kim teases, startling the two women at her sudden appearance which brings a tiny smile of satisfaction to her face.

"Buzz of." Alex replies, shooing the brunette in a sad attempt to gain privacy.

Picking up at the attempt, Kim smirks before turning her attention back to Casey. "Don't let this one fool you. She walks around sporting this cool chick attitude but she's really a big ole dork." She teases.

"That's it, Greylek, you're going down." Alex declares before she pounces, tackling the brunette off of her board and into the water.

Casey giggles at the relationship between the friends as she watches the two wrestle in the water. Taking her attention off of the two, she sits on her board and prepares to catch the wave that's rolling her way. As the wave begins to form, Casey stands up on her board and rides it perfectly enjoying the feeling of the wind wiping through her hair and the water sprinkling on her face.

As wave flattens out, Casey dives down into the water, panicking briefly when she feels arms go around her waist. When she resurfaces again, she finds herself face to face with a soaking wet Alex with her blonde hair plastered to her face. "You're a jerk."

"Yeah, but I'm your jerk." Alex replies coyly in response.

Once again, her smile fades as she notices how close they're treading water and how Casey is still holding onto her biceps. Throwing caution to the wind, she raises her hands and gentle rests them on Casey's damp cheeks. Like gravity, the two are drawn to each other and she soon finds herself pressing her lips to the redhead's in the most tentative of kisses.

About a thousand fireworks go off behind Casey's eyes as she feels Alex's lips on hers. Sensing the blonde's hesitation, she deepens the kiss by pressing herself into the woman's arms, as they continue to float in the water. A soft moan escapes her lips when she feels a warm tongue lightly bathing her bottom lip in which she complies with opening her mouth.

Their tongues dance and glide smoothly against one another as the kiss seems to heat up by the second. When air becomes a necessity, Alex pulls away first and chuckles quietly as she gazes at Casey through half lidded eyes. "So much for waiting…" she murmurs quietly.

"I don't think I mind." Casey mutters in response before she tangles her fingers into Alex's hair and pulls her in for another kiss.

"Yeah Baby!"

The two break away from each other and blush furiously to find the other five women all seated on their boards staring at them. They each mount their respective boards, all the while continuing to blush like teenagers caught in the act.

"You guys are jerks." Alex mutters, shaking her head at her friends.

"And you guys are cute." Serena retorts in response, taking great pride in having flustered Alex for probably the first time in her life.

Alex rolls her eyes at her friends and reaches over to grab Casey's hand. "Jerks?" she asks, with a curious raise of her eyebrows.

Casey looks around at the smirking surfers around her before she turns back to Alex and nods. "Jerks…"

* * *

Later the gang finds themselves laughing and enjoying beers over at Claire's bar. They discuss the excitement of Alex actually bringing a 'girlfriend' around them, the excitement over the upcoming surf competition and anything else in between. One thing that doesn't come up is Abbie's late night rendezvous from a few nights prior.

"Seriously Al, you two are really cute together." Emily says sincerely as she wraps an arm around Kim's waist.

"Yeah. Careful we don't scare her away." JJ offers with a wink as she takes a sip of her beer.

Alex rolls her eyes and links her hand with Casey's under the table. A warm smile graces her lips as Casey scoots into her and rests her head on her shoulder. "Something tells me she's not easily frightened." She responds with a chuckle giving the redhead's hand a soft squeeze.

Casey giggles at this and nods her head from her post on Alex's right shoulder; a place that she has found to be very comfortable. "You guys are weird, insane, and unlike any bunch I've ever met;" she pauses briefly as her grin widens. "I like it."

There is a unison cheer from the group as they all raise their glasses in response to the newbie's acceptance of their collective insanity. All in their own way of speaking, they collectively agree that Casey's okay, well, all accept Abbie who insists that there be some form of proper hazing for initiation.

"You mean like slashing someone's tires." Kim mutters darkly, raising her beer to her lips as two certain brunettes shrink in their seats briefly, only one recovers far sooner than the other.

"I already told you it's not that big a deal!" Abbie exclaims, tossing her hands up in exasperation, huffing loudly when Serena attempts to pin her hands to her side. "Will you stop that?! Why are you always doing that?!"

Serena looks completely taken aback for a moment before she frowns deeply. "I'm just trying to make sure you calm down. You know what it's like when you lose your temper."

Abbie turns a bright shade of red, though everyone can tell it's not from shame or embarrassment about being reprimanded by her girlfriend in front of the group, though it's more that of anger and frustration. "I do NOT have a temper!"

"Easy, Tiger." JJ instructs calmly as she pulls the angry brunette back into her seat by the sleeve of her jacket. "Down girl."

"I am NOT an animal!"

"Then stop acting like one…"

Abbie opens her mouth to retort but her words are drowned out by the loud crash of glass breaking coming from the parking lot. The group stares at each other for all of a nanosecond before they spring from their seats and dash out of the bar. They get outside just in time to hear tires screeching as three cars quickly careen out of the parking lot and disappear down the street, but that only captures the groups attention for a brief moment as their eyes are all locked on the scene before them.

"You cannot be serious…" Alex mutters as she moves over to her jeep where the red spray painted obscenities stand out loudly against the white paint of her jeep. "Oh that's mature…" she mutters, sighing heavily when she peers inside and sees about a ton of sand littering the interior. "That's real mature…."

"I'll say…" JJ states with a shake of her head. "I'll never be so glad that I didn't bring my car out here."

"Speak for yourself." Abbie nearly shouts, kicking the side of her truck, immediately regretting, though she ignores the pain in her foot in lieu of anger. "They flattened my tires!"

"Are you really surprised…" Emily retorts in a deadpan fashion before she turns and moves across the parking lot to where her girlfriend is silently staring at her vehicle. As she approaches the other woman, she notices that she's shaking and it's probably not in any kind of a good way. "Baby, are you alrig-oh…"

Kim's fists clenching tightly before she rips away from her girlfriend and moves behind her car where she opens her trunk and retrieves a sturdy metal bat. Ignoring Emily's protests about 'calming down' she stalks over to the rest of the group and points her lethal object at her target.

"You. Go put your head on your windshield so I can kill two birds with one stone." The fuming brunette demands in a deathly tone, gripping the bat so hard her knuckles are turning white.

"Me?! What did I do?" Abbie responds defensively as she backs away from the bat.

"If you hadn't gone and slashed Ziva's tires, they wouldn't have felt the need to bust out my windshield! Do you know how much that's going to cost?"

"Um…insurance?"

"You're paying for it Abbie. No. You need to find someone else who can pay for it because I have every intention of splattering your brains all over this parking lot!"

"STOP!" Alex demands in an authoritative voice, stepping in between her group of friends. "We are not going to let this drive us apart. Yes, Abbie messed up, it's been long since addressed, now get over it and move on."

"You're not the one without a windshield." Kim mumbles under her breath, casting a sad look at her beloved mustang.

Alex purses her lips tightly before placing her hands on her hips. "We'll find away to fix your car, but that's all we're doing." She says, casting a warning look towards her best friend. "No types of retaliations, no revenge, no anything; just leave it at that. Are there any objections or questions."

Casey has to fight the feeling of being completely turned on by the authority in Alex's voice. She gently bites her bottom lip as she allows her eyes to secretively roam over the blonde's body while she's making her speech. Blinking herself back to reality, a small blush coats her features when she realizes what she's doing.

"We need to start practice for the competition," JJ speaks up, taking a tone of authority much like that of her cousin's. "We'll start Friday bright and early, so that gives everyone tomorrow and Thursday to get their lives together before it's time to hammer down and get with it if we want any chance of winning. Got it?"

"Got it…" the group mumbles simultaneously.

Alex sighs at the defeated look on her friend's faces and she runs a hand through her hair. "How about we head back to my place for a late night movie marathon to take everyone's mind off of things? We'll figure out what to do about our cars in the morning. Sound good?"

"Yes!" Serena exclaims happily, speaking for the group. "Ice cream past nine o'clock is always my favorite."

"Anything that's edible is always your favorite. It's a wonder you're as thin as a twig." Kim mumbles, shaking her head as she begins mumbling about windshield and installation prices.

Alex chuckles at her friends' behavior at the idea of food, snacks, movies and hanging out. She turns to Casey who is also watching with amusement. "Sorry about all of that. Are you gonna join us tonight?"

"Of course." Casey responds immediately with excitement only for her grin to fade a mere five seconds later. "Wait…I told Maura I'd play Monopoly with her later on when I got home…"

"Monopoly?" Alex echoes with a curious raising of her eyebrows.

"She likes it…" Casey responds with a half shrug.

Alex nods though she tries to hide her disappointment. "I see, we'll if you need to get home then I'll take you. Not a problem."

Casey bites down on her bottom lip for a moment, having a serious mental war before she grins and shakes her head. "You know what; it's a board game. I can play it with her any time." She says shrugging it off. "I'll call her and let her know where I am."

"I'm sure she'll understand." Alex answers, pulling out her car keys. "C'mon, let's get this thing home so I can get it into the garage and not have to look at it until I wash it."

Casey giggles and laces her fingers with Alex's as the blonde tugs her over to the jeep where JJ is waiting in the back with a look on her face.

"Took you long enough." The shorter blonde states with an exaggerated sigh as she stretches out across the back seat despite the sand.

Alex rolls her eyes and dusts the sand out of the passenger seat before helping Casey inside. She then moves to her seat and does the same before climbing in. As they pull out of the parking lot, she glances at Casey who is staring down at her cell phone rather intently. "Everything alright?"

The redhead blinks rapidly as she looks up and shakes her head with a smile. "Yeah, fine. Everything's fine." She responds, slipping her phone back into her pocket before gazing out the window. "Everything's fine."

**Leave your thoughts? **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: another chapter for you guys! Hope you all enjoy!**

Casey's eyes crack open for a brief moment before she shuts them immediately at the onslaught of light. After a small mental pep talk, she manages to open her eyes once again this time just barely managing to fight off the harsh rays of the sunlight. As she shifts, she realizes that she is most definitely not at home and memories flood back to her as she realizes she's stretched across a sofa with a pair of arm wrapped around her from behind.

She glances over her shoulder and a small smile settles at her lips when she sees the peaceful look on Alex's face as she's sleeping. How they managed to stay on the couch in a mess of tangled limbs without falling over is beyond her, but at the same time, she's not complaining.

Slightly propping her chin up on her hand, Casey has to fight the humored giggle that threatens to escape her lips when she takes in the account of the rest of the room. Sprawled in a mess of beer cans, pizza boxes, and every other snack food in the world, Casey sees Abbie stretched across the floor with Serena tucked into her side. In one arm chair is Emily who has her arms wrapped tightly around Kim as she sleeps in her lap, while the other arm chair is occupied by JJ who has somehow managed to fall asleep lying upside down resembling a bat. If anything, that's the funniest thing to Casey than anything else.

A small groan is heard from behind her and Casey looks over her shoulder once again to find Alex with a similar frown on her face as she stirs against the sunlight. Flipping over onto her back, Casey grins to herself as she lightly presses her lips to the blonde's in order to help her join the land of the living.

"Mmm, wouldn't mind waking up to that every morning." Alex hums, her voice laced heavily with sleep as she slowly blinks her eyes open. She retracts her arms from Casey's waist and sits up on the couch, stretching before she yawns and takes in the state of her living room. "Holy crap."

"Yeah, we kinda made a mess." Casey giggles quietly as she too sits up and moves her legs over the edge of the couch, wincing when her foot crunches on something what she seriously hopes is a chip.

"Ah, Aunt Sandy is gonna have a fit when she wakes up and sees this." Alex murmurs, rubbing at the back of her neck as she shakes her head. "Me and JJ are gonna have a lot of cleaning to do and the talking to of our lives once she sees this…"

"I can stay and help you clean up if you want? It really wouldn't be a problem?"

"No, it's fine. If anything I'll make Abbie stay and help us because it is kinda her fault that my car was spray painted."

Casey chuckles quietly before running a hand through Alex's hair. "And let's not forget Kim's windshield. God forbid we forget the windshield." She jokes before glancing over at the brunette in question. "How does she manage to sleep with a scowl?"

Alex raises her eyebrows and looks over at her friend before a smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "Ah, that's actually her happy face. Sleeping just like a little angel." She responds with a waft of her hand as she stands up from the couch.

She kicks trash to the side, her feet crunching over empty beer cans as she makes her way over to her cousin. "Jen…" she whispers quietly, frowning when the snoring blonde doesn't stir. Alex's frown deeps as she tries once again, hitting the blonde's foot this time for good measure. "Jen!"

"Huh?" JJ responds, blinking her eye rapidly at being rudely awakened. A frown settles on her face as she realizes she's upside down and she looks up to see Alex staring down at her. "What…"

"I need your car keys. I need to take Casey home and I'm not taking the bike out this early." Alex states placing a hand on her hip.

JJ murmurs something incoherent as she rubs her eyes and sits upright in the chair. Yawning, she moves to drag a hand through her hair, pausing when she sees the state of the living room. "Well shit…"

Alex chuckles quietly as she nods her head. "Yeah, I know. Sandy's gonna have a fit when she sees. What're the odds of us getting it cleaned up before she wakes up?"

"Fuck that, I'm going to bed." JJ mumbles in response as she stands up and stretches. "My keys are on the counter."

"Jen, seriously. At least start cleaning up before I get back."

"G'night Alex…"

"It's eight in the morning!"

"All the more reason for me to be in bed."

Alex rolls her eyes at her cousin's incompetent tendencies as she stalks over to the counter and picks up a set of car keys. "C'mon, let's get you home so you don't have to feel the wrath of my aunt when she sees the state of her living room." She chuckles as she laces her fingers with Casey before tugging her through the kitchen and out to the garage.

The drive back to Casey's house is spent in light conversation as their hands are interlaced on the center consol. Being completely honest with herself, Casey does have to say that she is a little disappointed that she isn't going to spend the morning with the blonde like she had hoped, but she doesn't doubt that she'll be seeing Alex again soon.

"Hope you had fun last night, you know, despite the minor glitch in the middle of it." Alex says out of the blue, glancing at Casey out of the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to the road.

"I got to spend the night with you. That's all the fun I need." Casey responds with a grin as she gives Alex's hand a light squeeze.

Alex finds her cheeks warming at the feeling of the redhead's hand in her own. Had she meant for things to move this fast between the two of them? Most definitely not, but she can't exactly say that she minds. As long as Casey doesn't feel like she's being rushed into anything, then that's all she can ask for.

"Here we are." Alex says as she pulls into the driveway of Casey's house. "Maybe I can see you later? You know, just to hang out and listen to music if anything else or we can do whatever you want; we can do whatever."

"Great. I'd love to." Casey responds with a grin as she leans across the consol and connects her lips to Alex's in a soft kiss. She pulls away with a schoolgirl like grin on her face as she gently strokes the blonde's cheek with her thumb. "I'll, um, I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Alex answers, her voice gone slightly husky from the passion of the kiss.

Casey gets out of the car and heads up to the front door, turning long enough to give Alex a wave before she slips inside. As she gets inside, she closes the door and leans against it, sighing happily as her girlish grin widens.

"Casey." A voice calls out as she is making her way towards the stairs.

Pausing, Casey spins around to find her aunt sitting in the large living room reading the newspaper, occasionally taking a sip from her coffee mug. "Hey Auntie. What's going on?"

"I was just about to ask you the same question." Constance replies gently before she folds her paper and tilts her head. "You didn't come home last night? I was a little worried."

"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to miss dinner or anything, I was just hanging out with a group of friends." Casey responds before she winces as she remembers her reason for dreading going home. "Um, do you know where Maura is?"

Constance raises her eyebrows for a moment before she nods her head. "Yes Dear, she should be up in her room. If I know her, she's watching one of her documentaries about the human anatomy again."

Casey nods, swallowing thickly as she gives her aunt a shaky smile. "Alright, I think I'll go up and see her. Thanks." She says before she slowly begins her ascent of the stairs.

As she reaches the top of the stairs, she makes her way down the hall to her cousin's room, taking a deep breath before she gently knocks on the door. "Maura?" she calls out gently, opening the door just enough to poke her head through. A heart clenches when she's that the blonde curled up on her bed barely glances at her before her eyes move back to the television.

"Um, so…Constance said you were watching something about the human body." Casey begins awkwardly as she slips into the room and takes a seat on the edge of the bed, not the least bit of surprised Maura scoots as far away from her has possible. "Maura c'mon…listen, I…I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to ditch you like that."

"Yes you did." Maura replies quietly albeit firmly as she refuses to tear her eyes away from her television.

"Maura, no, I didn't. I didn't know that Alex was gonna ask me to hang out with them after we surfed."

"You still chose to go with them…the least you could've done is come home to tell me where you were going or at least called. Instead you sent me a text message. Instead you left me sitting in my room feeling like a fool because you said you would hang out with me last night."

Casey sighs heavily before she drags a hand through her hair. "I'm really sorry that I didn't come back last night, but Maura, it's just a board game."

Maura's eyes harden in a rare amount of anger before a look of disbelief crosses her face. "Is that what you think? You think I'm mad about the board game?" she asks rhetorically before scoffing. "No, Casey, it has nothing to do with the board game. It has to do with the fact that ever since you arrived here, you've brushed me off like I'm nothing. I brought you here thinking that you would actually want to have a relationship with me because we're cousins and I just thought that we would be able to bond and hang out and do things together but apparently I was wrong. Not only did you come and completely brush me off, you came and practically took my place with my friends."

"What are you talking about? I did not take your place."

"Oh yeah? Then why didn't you invite me to hang out with you guys last night?"

"What? Maura, we were surfing! You don't surf!"

"You didn't _just_ surf and you know it. And it's not even about that. You know I would have minded watching. Penelope and I have watched them surf far longer than you have even known any of them." The blonde shouts before her tone lowers into one of accusation. "Is that what this is about, Casey? Is it because I don't surf? Because I don't fit in? I didn't realize I had to surf to fit in with everyone else! You know, I got a long quite fine with all of them before you even got here, but now since you're here you just messed everything up."

Casey sighs heavily once again before shaking her head. "Maura, you don't mean that."

"Yes I do." Maura responds firmly before she shoots off of her bed and marches over to the door. "I mean every word of it and I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life. Now I want you to get out of my room."

"Maura…"

"Go!"

Casey holds up her hands in surrender as she makes her way over to the door and into the hallway. "Maybe we can talk later when you're not so upset." She says, not the least bit of surprised when the door is slammed in her face not even a second after she finishes speaking. "Maybe later than…later…"

**Later That Night **

The figure in the black hoodie leans against the lamppost in her proximity with her arms folded. An exasperated sigh of irritation escapes her lips as she glances at the time on her phone before letting her nails tap against her forearm. Honestly, if she knew that they were going to be late, she would've showed up fashionably late like she had originally intended.

Finally after around five minutes of waiting, a familiar black jeep slows to a stop in front of her and its three occupants exit and approach her in the parking lot.

"Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you forgot about me." she begins with a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips before addressing one of the brunette's standing on the end. "Sara, it's been a while. How's the nose?" she asks rhetorically, chuckling when Sara glowers at her, her fist clenching in frustration.

"We would have been here sooner, but someone can't take directions and tell the difference between right and left." Amanda snarks, glaring at the woman on her left who simply glares back."

"If you keep that up then I will have absolutely no problems leaving you here and having you walk back." Ziva responds before turning back towards the chuckling woman before them. "You could not have been here that long."

"You're right, I haven't. I just like to push your buttons. It's one of my favorite pass times."

Ziva rolls her eyes in response before she true crosses her arms, though she has to hide that it's a defensive motion. "Do you have what you were meant to bring?"

"That I do." she responds, tossing a USB drive over to Amanda who catches it in mid air. "Everything that you'll need so far is on there. Planning, tricks, formation, who's doing what, etc."

"How many are there?" Sara asks, speaking up for the first time.

Thinking for a moment, she taps a finger to her chin before shrugging. "Eight. It shouldn't be any kind of a problem though. Not everyone went yesterday so I was only able to get this much."

A smirk tugs at Ziva's lips as she shoves her hands into her pockets. "Jane sends her deepest apologies about not being able to meet you personal."

"And instead she sent you three." She responds with a breathy chuckle before shaking her head. "It's alright. I have no doubt that she'll make it up to me in the future. In the mean time, I have to go before anyone notices I'm missing. That's about all I can give you right now, but prepare yourselves. Something tells me you won't have an easy time with this. Is Beckett back in town yet?"

"Her flight should be landing within the next three hours."

"Excellent. I trust that you will fill her in when she gets here? Fill Beckett in and make sure Brennan doesn't bail out. There's something about her that I don't trust. If she's smart, she'll remember where her loyalties lie. Do you think your petty little mind can handle that?" She teases, chuckling when she sees the woman in question attempt to send her a glare. "Oh don't give me that look. You know I really do hate it when I have to clean up your mess, Ziva. It would be a shame if Jane found out about your little…slip up."

A near animal like growl escapes Ziva's lip as she is clenching her hands so tightly that her nails are digging into her palms. "I will do my best…" she grinds out, knowing that is about all she has room to say.

"I trust that you will." The figure responds, chuckling as she shoves her hands into her hoodie and saunters out of the parking lot with the evilest of smirks tugging at her lips.

**Ooo suspense. Leave your thoughts? **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Kind of a filler chapter, but you know, those are just necessary sometimes. **

**Stussy: Sara, as in Sara Sidle from CSI. Love her, she's one of my favorites. **

**Surfrider: Actually, I updated it at around 5am, but the email notifications are delaying for some reason. It's quite annoying for authors because it doesn't send us the email that the chapter actually posted. It's driving me nuts. **

**Also: New character listing! I'm so excited! Then again, it doesn't take much to excite me but I'm excited! Do you guys see it? I see it! Eeeeek, so glad my email was answered! **

**Anyway, story time; go for it! **

"Penelope have you ever had…feelings?" Maura asks innocently as she looks up from the counter top and gazes at her best friend who is puttering around the kitchen.

"I'm sure everyone has feelings every day." Garcia responds, as she sets about washing dishes in the sink of her small kitchen. "You know, feelings about every little thing; how they feel a about the sunrise, or the douche bag that ran the red light so they couldn't cross the street when it was their turn. That last one was from personal experience."

Maura quirks an eyebrow in silence before she shakes her head in the negative. "No, I don't mean those kinds of feelings. I mean…feelings…feelings."

Garcia's hands pause and her mouth forms into a perfect 'O' shape as she looks up from the sink to gaze over at the blonde on the other side of the countertop. "Oh you mean those types of feelings!" she exclaims before she goes back to scrubbing a plate. "Now that I think about it, I can't say that I ever have. I'm more focused on other things that are more tech savvy or computer related than to have feelings like that for anyone. Why?"

"I was just curious." Maura responds with a seemingly deflated shrug as she lightly taps her fingers against the counter.

"Maura don't lie to me. You know I've known you long enough to where I can tell when you're lying." Penelope warns placing a hand on her hip for added authoritative measure. "Now c'mon gumdrop, tell me why the sudden question and the long face?"

Maura is fairly silent for a long moment before she rests her chin on her hand and sighs heavily. "Everything was fine before Casey got here." She murmurs quietly and almost inaudibly. "She's my cousin, I get that, but ever since she got here she just messed everything up."

Penelope frowns for a moment before tilting her head in a slight amount of confusion. "What do you mean she messed everything up? I like Casey. I think she's cool." She answers before continuing on. "But that doesn't mean that I like you any less than I did before I came to know her. I think it's nice she's managed to fit in with everyone. Not to mention her relationship with Alex is really cute." She gushes before her eyes narrow into thin slits. "Wait…"

"What?"

"Why did you ask me about feelings and then ask me about Casey? Are you jealous…?"

"What? Me? Jealous? Garcia I—"

"Don't lie to me Maura, you know you'll break out in hives again if you do."

Maura snaps her mouth shut and drops her gaze to the counter as a heavy blush begins to spread across her cheeks. "I didn't mean to tell you about it or anything. No one else was supposed to know."

"Does she know?" Garcia asks gently as she moves closer to examine the defeated look on her friend's face.

"No, and she can't know, especially not now…"

"Oh, honey…why didn't you say anything before now? Not to me or anything, but why didn't you tell her?"

"You think it was that easy? You think I could walk up to her and tell her 'oh hey, I kind of have this huge crush on you'? It's not that easy Penelope. Especially not with what my mother would probably think if she found out and I have no interest in telling her. Besides, it's not like she would've felt the same way anyway, I mean look at her now. I don't even exist anymore."

A look of sympathy crosses Garcia's face before she reaches across the counter and gives the other woman's hand a gentle squeeze. "Do you still like her?"

"Yes…" Maura responds quietly with a nod. "I mean, it just doesn't go away. She was so nice to me and no one's ever been that nice to me before. It felt…amazing to actually feel like I was wanted."

"You can't keep this bottled up inside of you. I think you should tell her, if anything just to get it off of your chest so it's not eating at you anymore."

"Yeah right, because that'll solve my problems…"

"Hey, you never know."

**Meanwhile…**

"So tell me about this whole rivalry thing." Casey wonders as she leans against Alex's jeep while the blonde is down on her knees scrubbing the rims.

Alex pauses her scrubbing for a brief moment to sigh and shake her head as she continues. "It's kind of a not-so-long long story." She answers with a tiny hint of venom in her tone.

Casey raises her eyebrows at this and tilts her head to the side in genuine curiosity. "Well, I'll say that we've got time." She retorts gently before backtracking a bit. "If you don't want to tell me, then that's fine, but I really would like to know where all of this hate is coming from."

"A little while ago before my group got together, Jane, Abbie and I were on a team together. It was the three of us, Abbie's then girlfriend, Serena, Kim, and Emily. We were basically unstoppable and destroyed any group that dared to stand in our way. Abbie was our captain and no one seemed to have a problem with it except Jane. Things got a little tense between them and the tension increased between the two of them all the way up until the annual competition. We thought things were going well like usual and we were gonna take the trophy just like usual, but Jane bombed the last contest, just to spite Abbie so we came in second."

"That's what this is about?" Casey wonders as her eyebrows shoot into her hairline. "Abbie's upset because you guys didn't win the competition?"

Alex chuckles absently as she gives a half shrug. "Well there's that, and then there's the fact that Jane took Abbie's girlfriend which was also probably out of spite."

"Serena!?"

"No, no, this girl's name was Caitlin, but everybody just called her Kate. Frankly, I didn't like her too much but there was something about her that Abbie just adored. Anyway, word got out that she was fooling around with Jane and then things just went all downhill from there. She moved not too long after that and then Jane just acted like she didn't care so we know it was out of spite. Well, Jane gathered a new group of friends and ever since that whole betrayal thing, Abbie has hated her and anyone associated with her. The rest of us have gotten over it, but Abbie refuses to let it go. Something tells me it's more about her stolen girlfriend than anything. It kinda wrecked her pride when she found out Kate was cheating."

Casey whistles and shakes her head as she picks up the water hose to rinse the soap off of the vehicle. "Wow…now I can understand why Abbie is still pretty mad. I mean, yeah she does need to get over it I guess but I guess now it makes a little more sense. Especially if Jane keeps pushing her buttons like that. Have you tried talking to her about it?"

Alex snorts as she stands up and throws her towel over her shoulder. "Bring up that subject one on one with Abbie is like walking into a bull's pen wearing neon red from head to toe. I just tell myself that if Abbie ever really wants to talk about it personally, then she'll bring it up with me. Until then, I guess I'm just an innocent bystander to her uncontrollably wrath."

"You're such a good friend." Casey hums as she steps closer to the blonde and enters her personal space, though it doesn't go unwanted. "I think you're an amazing girlfriend too."

"Girlfriend, huh?" Alex teases, dropping her towel as she places her hands on Casey's hips and spins her around to where she is pinning her against the car. She leans in close to where their lips are barely touching before she smirks and pulls away, prompting a whine and a smack. "Not until we're finished."

"But aren't we finished? I already rinsed." Casey pouts.

Alex grins wickedly before she picks up her soapy sponge and wipes it across one of the windows. "You missed a spot." She responds with a wide grin.

Casey rolls her eyes and shoves the blonde away from her as she stalks across the driveway to retrieve the water hose. A mischievous grin of her own spreads across her face as she takes the sprayer of the hose and aims it at Alex with her finger poised at the trigger.

"You wouldn't dare." Alex warns as she takes her towel from the ground and points it at Casey as menacingly as she can muster. "I'm warning you, don't do it."

"You asked for it." Casey snarks back as she squeezes the sprayer and succeeds in drenching Alex in a fair amount of water.

Squealing from the coldness of the hose, Alex wipes the water from her eyes as her hear is now clinging to her face in sopping wet strands. "That's it, you're gonna get it." She retorts as she picks up a bucket of soapy water and begins to chase the giggling redhead around her car.

"No, Alex, I'm sorry!" Casey squeals as she moves around the jeep to put a fair enough of distance between her and her attacker. As she sees Alex make a break to move around the jeep, she moves the opposite direction only to find herself to run into a massive dump of water. "Ugh, Alex!"

"You had it coming." Alex smirks as she puts her hands on Casey's hips and pins her to her car once again, only this time capturing her lips in a hungry kiss.

Casey moans into the kiss as she wraps her arms around Alex's neck, tangling her fingers in her soaked blonde tresses as she pulls her closer and their bodies meld together succeeding in creating a greater amount of heat that over takes the temperature from the blazing sun outside.

Despite the feint taste of soap, Alex can't help but smirk when she feels Casey go limp against her. When the need for air becomes too great for the both of them, she has to reluctantly pull away and rest their foreheads against one another. "Wow…"

"Wow yourself." Casey giggles huskily as she twirls a strand of blonde around her fingers. "You know, you're a pretty good kisser."

"I know. I give out t-shirts to all the lucky girls who've had the luxury of tasting these lips. If you'd like, I'll autograph yours for you when I give it to you?"

"You're also an ass…"

"Yeah I get that a lot too."

Casey can't help but roll her eyes as she leans forward and rests her forehead on the blonde's wet shoulder. "I don't think I've ever been attracted to anyone the way that I'm attracted to you." she whispers sincerely, placing a gentle kiss to the side of Alex's neck.

"The feeling is mutual, Red." Alex responds jokingly before she clears the huskiness out of her throat. "So, I was wondering if maybe you'd go to dinner with me later? I'd really like to take you somewhere really nice. But only if you're interested."

"I'd love to." Casey responds immediately with a grin. "Will you be picking me up?"

"Yeah. Seven sound good?"

"Seven sounds perfect."

"Great! I'll see you then. Now c'mon, we gotta dry my car."

Casey groans as she puts her hands on her hips and tilts her head back. "Can't it just air dry."

"The shine isn't the same unless you put a little elbow grease into it." Alex jokes as she tosses Casey a dry rag. "Now get to dryin'."

**Later That Night **

"You know, you look really hot in that dress." Jane comments with a smirk as she reaches across the table to take her date's hand, a little taken a back when it is abruptly snatched away. "Aw…c'mon, you can't still be mad at me about not being able to meet you the other night. I said I was sorry."

"Yes well, when leaving me to deal with your idiots, 'sorry' doesn't exactly make the cut." She responds taking her hand back to examine her perfectly manicured nails.

Jane sighs heavily as she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms. "I'm buying your dinner; doesn't that at least make up for something? I would've been there, but I was busy."

Her date sighs heavily and maintains her look of indifference before her resolve breaks and a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "I know, but sometimes I wonder why you put me off on your friends. After all, they are your friends…"

"Hey, they aren't that bad."

"Their brainpower combined is about equal to that of a lump of bread that has been laying out in the sun for far too long."

"Ouch…Babe, that's a little harsh don't you think?"

"I could be much harsher."

Jane is silent for a moment before she clears her throat and briefly drops her attention down to her plate. "That is true." She murmurs, clearing her throat again. "Are you sure they don't know where you are? It really would annoy the hell out of me if you were followed."

"Now you're starting to treat me like one of them." Her date responds, rolling her eyes as she eloquently flips her hair over her shoulder. "Don't you trust me? I know how to get somewhere and not be followed. But they trust me so I know that none of them have a reason to follow me. I'm much too blameless for that."

"I find your dark side to be very sexy." Jane purrs, reaching across the table again to bring her dates hand to her lips. "Maybe after our dinner I'll take you home and make up for not meeting you the other night?"

"I had already put it in my schedule that you would."

**Leave your thoughts?**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I think you all are going to like this chapter. Enjoy.**

"Coming! I'm coming!" Maura calls out to the person on the other side of the front door as she quickly makes her way down the stairs. Not bothering to look through the glass siding or the peephole, she lets out a puff of air and puts on a smile for said visitor as she swings the door open. "Hi sorry. I was upstairs listening to…" she gradually trails off before a dreamy smile involuntarily settles at her lips.

"Listening to…?" Alex echoes with a smirk tugging at her lips before she chuckles and leans against the doorframe. "Is Casey home?"

Blinking out of her stupor, Maura shakes her head and manages what she hopes is a normal smile. "Um, no, she's not, she's out with Mother, but they should be back any minute."

"Great. Mind if I wait?" Alex asks, though it's rhetorically as she straightens up and saunters into the house, not noticing the shorter woman's involuntary shudder as she brushes past.

"N-no, not at all. You can just-" Maura stammers, giving herself a mental pep talk before she closes the door and proceeds into the living room, pausing when she sees Alex already seated on one of the couches. "Well, I seen you've made yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything?"

Alex grins widely in response before she shakes her head. "No thanks. I'm good, but thanks for the offer." She answers before looking around. "I really like your house. I don't think in the time that I've known you I've ever been inside."

"Oh well…thanks. Mother handpicked the interior decorator herself once we moved here. She was worried that if she did it herself, there would always be something sticking out that she didn't like." Maura explains laughing nervously, only to clear her throat a moment later when she realizes how lame that must've sounded. "So, um, how's surf practice going?"

"It's going great!" Alex exclaims, practically radiating with excitement at the thing she loves most; well, now the second thing she's finding that she loves most. "Everyone's really working extremely hard and your cousin is one of the best surfers I've ever met. She has this really cool trick she's working on that I'm really excited to see her do. I'm a little surprised I haven't seen you at any of the practices lately. It's a little odd to see Garcia sitting there by herself."

Though she knows Penelope understands, Maura can't help but feel a small tinge of guilt settling in the pit of her stomach. "Oh, well, I've been a little busy lately and I just, you know, haven't exactly had time…" she trails off quietly. At least it's not completely a lie.

"Too bad." Alex hums before they settle into a silence. Tapping her fingers against her thigh, she looks around for another moment before speaking up. "So where did Casey go, this morning?"

"I don't exactly know. It might've had something to do with the electronic store or clothes shopping or something of the like."

"And you didn't go!? Maura, I thought you loved shopping!"

"I do, but I would've much rather slept in this morning. I was up all night last night…"

"Well alright, but I still can't believe you missed a shopping trip for sleep."

"Yeah." Maura murmurs quietly before she takes a deep breath and sits up straighter on the couch. "Alex, can I…ask you something?"

The blonde across the way shrugs nonchalantly. "Sure, what's up?" she questions, being sure to give Maura her undivided attention.

Remembering Garcia's advice, or at least part of it, Maura takes another deep breath before angling her gaze towards her hands. "Um, so you and Casey have been spending a lot of time together lately…"

"We have." Alex answers, a dreamy smile of her own settling at her lips. "She's really great you know. Smart, funny, beautiful, we're into a lot of the same things. It doesn't get much better than that in a girl, does it?"

"I guess not." Maura mumbles quietly before continuing on. "But I was just wondering, you know, before Casey got here; was there maybe anyone else that you would've been interested in seeing? You know…romantically?"

Alex quirks an eyebrow at this before she tilts her head in curiosity. "You're asking if there was anyone else I would've dated?"

"Well, yes, I guess so…"

"Gee, I don't know, Maur, I mean, sure I had been on a date with a few girls, but they just didn't feel right, you know? And then it's not like I could date any of my friends. Four of them are couples with each other, JJ's my cousin and Garcia doesn't date. That basically leaves you and Olivia and I certainly couldn't date either of you."

"Well why not?"

"Well first of all, I've known Olivia since I was ten, and that would just be weird. And then you," Alex pauses to chuckle and shake her head. "Maura, I don't mean this in any offensive way, but I couldn't date you because I see you as more of a quirky, fun, younger sister I've always wanted so that'd be kinda weird too. Don't get me wrong, you're pretty, but I can't even begin to imagine the two of us going out together."

Getting her answer, Maura nods her head and smiles as she tries not to let her disappointment show on her face. "I see. That completely makes sense. I do suppose that the two of us couldn't be a functioning couple what with the whole sisterly platonic feelings and all."

"Yeah, totally." Alex agrees with a laugh before tilting her head. "Why do you ask anyway? "

"No reason, I was just curious as to why I hadn't seen you with anyone before Casey." Again, not exactly a lie.

"Casey's just the right girl for me, I guess." Alex shrugs with a smile.

"Maura! We're home!" Constance's voice rings from in the kitchen.

"Auntie, what if she's still sleeping!" A hushed voice, obviously Casey's soon follows.

"Then that was her wake up call." Constance responds, the clack of her heels audibly switching from the tiled kitchen to the hardwood floors of the living room where she spots her daughter sitting on the couch. "Oh good. She's awake. And she has a guest…"

"Alex!" Casey squeals, dropping her bags as she moves forward and throws her arms around the blonde. It only takes point five seconds for her brain to kick her and remind her that her aunt is in the room. "Oh, um, this is a friend of mine."

"Ours." Maura chimes in, though she keeps her smile in place for her mother.

"Friend?" Alex speaks up, only to be cut off.

"Ours." Casey corrects with a nod. "Auntie, this is Alex. Alex, this is my aunt, Constance Isles."

"A pleasure to meet you." Constance states with a grin, reaching out to shake the young woman's hand.

"Likewise." Alex echoes, still a little thrown off by the whole 'friend' introduction before turning to Casey. "So, I came by to get you for practice, but Maura informed me you were out shopping."

A look of realization dawns on Casey's face as she begins to look extremely apologetic. "Crap, I am so sorry. I completely forgot about the time change, and it must've slipped my mind when Auntie asked me to go shopping with her. You're not mad are you?"

Alex smiles and shakes her head. "No, I'm not mad." She hums, leaning in to give the redhead a sweet kiss, faltering when Casey quickly pulls away.

"Auntie, I'm really sorry. I completely forgot I had practice this morning so I won't be able to stay for breakfast."

"Oh, that's alright. I know how important surfing is to you." Constance proceeds with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure that Maura and I will have a lovely breakfast anyway."

"Actually Mother." Maura speaks up for the first time in a few minutes. "I actually think that I'll go and watch their practice." She offers, flinching when she looks over to find her cousin glaring holes into her.

Missing the exchange, Constance shrugs her shoulders as she places her bags on the floor next to the sofa. "Well alright then. I won't mind having breakfast alone. The two of you have fun."

"We will." Maura and Casey respond simultaneously, though in two totally different tones of voice.

* * *

"What was that all about back at the house?" Alex asks, finally addressing the elephant in the room as she sits on the sand waxing her board.

Casey blinks silently for a moment before she remembers what Alex is referring to. "Oh, that…" she begins with a hint of discouragement and a sigh. "Well…you see…the thing is….well Constance doesn't know that I'm a lesbian and I'm not quite sure how she would take it if she knew...that's why I acted the way I did. I didn't mean to put you off or anything , I just don't think I'm ready to tell her."

Alex tightens her lips before she sits back on her hands. "So all of that means you haven't told her about your relationship with me yet?" she asks, shaking her head when Casey's silence gives her all the answer that she needs. "Where does she think you are all of those times we've been out together?"

"I've told her that I've been out with friends." Casey explains before she quickly continues on. "But it's not exactly a lie, I was out with friends."

"The others weren't there on our dinner date, Casey…"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to hide you from her, honest I'm not. I just…well, I'm just not ready to come out to her. I don't know how she would take it. Please understand?"

As much as she would like to be upset, Alex can't bring herself to be mad at the pleading emerald eyes in front of her. "I understand." She relents, sighing into the gentle kiss that Casey places on her lips. "But promise me that you'll come out to her soon."

"Alex…"

"Casey…"

Seeing the look of seriousness on her girlfriend's face, Casey sighs quietly before nodding her head. "Fine. I promise."

"Good." The blonde responds, standing and stretching. "Now let's get started."

"We can't." A passing Abbie calls over her shoulder.

"Well why not?"

"Kim's not here." JJ adds in with a nonchalant shrug as she plops down on the sand.

"What do you mean 'Kim's not here'?" Alex asks before snapping her head towards Emily who stares back in confusion. "Well?"

"Well what?" the brunette responds with a shrug.

"Well where is she? You would know where she is."

"Well then I hate to break it to you, but I don't know where she is. I didn't see her at all yesterday. I called her about maybe wanting to go out, but she told me she already had plans for the evening. That was the last time we spoke. I know just about as much as you do about where she is."

"Where who is?" A new voice says, causing everyone else to jump.

Alex spins around, frowning when the brunette in question is standing right in front of her. "You. Where the hell were you? You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago."

"Well excuse me for running late." Kim snarks back with an eye roll as she tosses her board on the ground. "I had errands that I needed to take care of."

"Errands more important than practice? What kind of errands?"

"Errands that aren't any of your business."

"Errands that also keep you from coming home at night." Serena, mutters, though it isn't exactly quiet.

"Oh, you mean you were actually home last night to tell?" Kim bites venomously, glaring deadly holes into her stepsister. "I was busy last night."

"Busy doing what?" Emily asks gently.

"I had plans!" Kim shouts loud enough to leave an echo, only to soften when she realizes who she's shouting at. "I had plans…Look, are we going to practice, or is this just gonna be a practice where everyone stands around prying into my business? Because if it is, then I can easily pack up my stuff and go home."

Sensing the tension filled silence among her friends, Olivia stands up, speaking for the first time. "I say we should start practice." She states, grabbing her board to head into the water for a warm up followed by a few sounds of agreement from the others.

"Are you alright?" Casey asks softly, giving Alex's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I'm fine." Alex answers, letting out a puff of air as she loosens her shoulders. "Sorry if I came off as too harsh. I'm not usually like that."

"I know. That's why I was concerned." Casey responds with a quiet chuckle.

"I know…" Alex echoes as she continues to eye Kim's behavior out of the corner of her eye. "Something just doesn't feel right."

**Later**

"I think practice went well. And it was good to see Maura hanging out with us again." Alex states as she and Casey enter her secret apartment that evening and toss their stuff by the door.

"Yeah." Casey responds with a hint of disdain in her voice before she shakes her head and places a grin on her face. "It's always fun hanging out with everyone. Although, I'm still a little shock that Abbie and Liv were able to eat that much pizza."

"You get used to it." Alex answers with a look of some sort. "I just hate it whenever they have their pizza contests because that means we always end up ordering extra. Not to mention the beer goes missing like that." she concludes with a snap of her fingers. "Speaking of beer, do you want any?"

"No." Casey responds, pulling the blonde into a heated kiss that lasts a few minutes and leaves the both of them panting when she pulls away. "I want something more much, satisfying."

Alex blinks at the lust in Casey's voice and she feels her face heat up immediately. "Oh, I see." She states with a small smirk, just barely managing to maintain her aura of cool. "And what do you plan to do about it?"

Casey says nothing as she smirks and takes a step back to slowly lift her shirt over her head, revealing a deep blue lace bra that clings perfectly enough to show off just the right amount of mouth watering cleavage.

"Holy hell." Alex whispers, feeling her throat go completely dry. "Please tell me you didn't wear that while you were surfing."

"No." Casey responds with a shake of her head. "I had it in my bag for you know; emergency purposes.

"Please tell me they come with matching bottoms?"

"Why don't you come over here so you can find out?"

Approximately three hours later, Casey lay propped up on her elbow with the blankets tight against her chest while she gently runs her hand through Alex's hair, giggling quietly as she watches the blonde attempt to catch her breath.

"Wow." Is all Alex can say for probably the fifteenth time as her chest continues to heave heavily. "You…wow. I mean I figured you'd be good, but…and that thing you do with your tongue…wow. I've never…wow."

"You were so bad yourself." Casey giggles quietly, snuggling closer until their warm bodies are flush against each other. "But I do like to leave a lasting impression."

"I'll say." Alex pants. "I don't think I could go anymore if you asked. I'm not sure I can move."

"Don't worry." Casey responds with a cheeky grin before she slowly lowers herself underneath the blankets. "I'm flexible."

**Leave your thoughts? **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Chapter for you. hope you enjoy.**

"So, what did you do? Did you talk? Did you cuddle? Did you get laid?"

"I'm not giving you any details." Alex responds, rolling her eyes at her best friend as she takes a sip from her beer. "What happens between Casey and me is our business. So keep your nosy nose out of it."

Abbie is silent as she allows for a slow smirk to spread across her lips. "You so got laid last night." She concludes, laughing aloud when she sees the blush at her best friend's cheeks. "Tell me, what was it like? Was it average, good, or great? Or was it the best sex that you have had in your entire life?"

Alex rolls her eyes once again, though that doesn't stop the smirk that tugs at the corner of her lips. "She wore me out. It's like she's a little ball of energy. When I told her I couldn't go anymore, she insisted that we continue. I was probably up until four this morning. Thank god we didn't have practice today. I don't think I would've survived."

"Of course. You can only ride so much." Abbie teases, grinning wider when her best friend swats her in the shoulder. "Hey, I'm just saying!"

"For your information, Abigail, it was not I who did all of the riding." The blonde responds with that same smirk on her face.

"Hell yeah! That sounds hot. You sound like you're pretty serious about her."

"I want to be."

At this, Abbie's smile fades and a small frown appears on her face before she tilts her head in genuine confusion. "Wait, 'you want to be'? Why do you say it like that? What is that supposed to mean?"

Alex is silent for a brief moment as she shrugs and absentmindedly picks at the label on her beer bottle. "Her aunt doesn't know she's gay."

"And…?"

"And Casey doesn't know what she's going to tell her…and I don't know when she's going to tell her. When I took her home this morning, she wouldn't even kiss me goodbye because she was afraid her aunt might see us. Instead she gave me this awkward hug and wave before she all but ran inside."

"Gee, Al, I don't know what to say." Abbie responds sympathetically. "How do you feel about it?"

"Honestly? I think it sucks." Alex halfway jokes with a small laugh. "I mean, I really like her, you know? She's the first girl that I've actually let into my world. I've shown her things that I've never shown anyone else that I've been involved with. I've never had a problem with hiding my sexuality, so I can't imagine how that must feel for her, having to hide from her aunt, but I wish that she didn't have to. I don't want to pretend for too long."

"Did the two of you have this conversation?"

"Yeah, we did a couple short times yesterday. She insisted that she would tell Constance she was gay and she would explain what was going on between the two of us, but she said that she just needed more time. I mean, I don't want to push her into telling her aunt when she's not ready, but at the same time, I don't want to hide our relationship. I really like her and I enjoy spending time with her. Can you imagine what life would be like if you had to hide your relationship with Serena? That would mean no sex, Abbie."

Abbie's face turns into a sheet of white as she looks at her best friend with sheer horror. "No sex?" she asks, almost fearfully.

Alex shakes her head in the negative, just barely keeping herself from laughing at her friend's expression. "No sex. Absolutely none. And I know that's your favorite extracurricular activity."

"Sometimes we have sex in her room just to annoy Kim." Abbie states with a humored smirk. "It'll be real late at night when their mom won't be home. Then I'll get Serena to screaming just like I like it, and then the next thing I know, Kim's pounding on the door telling us to shut up. Once when she was out with Em, we had sex in her car. It was great."

"My god, she will kill you if she ever finds out." Alex blurts with widened eyes. "Please tell me you had the decency to use a blanket? You know what, no, never mind, I don't think I want to have this conversation. That way I'll be able to say I didn't know about it, when she finds out."

"She's not gonna find out. It was a long time ago. Besides, we barely see her outside of practice anymore and even then, she's late. It's not like she'll have the opportunity to find out." Abbie concludes with a dismissive shrug.

A frown crosses Alex's face as she purses her lips tightly. "That's another thing I've been concerned about. She's been sneaking around doing something and I want to know what. Even Emily doesn't know what's going on, and if Em doesn't know, then there's a problem."

"You think she's cheating?" Abbie asks, raising her eyebrows in interest.

"She could be. I mean think about it. She's sneaking around, not telling anyone where she's been, not telling her _girlfriend_ where she's been. She shows up late to practice when she's never been late for anything in her entire life. Serena says she stays out real late at night. What other explanation do you have?"

"Gee, Al, I don't know. I mean, yeah, she is kind of prickly, but I don't think Kim would cheat on Em. You see how happy they are together." Abbie explains before shrugging. "But say she is cheating, what are we gonna do about it?"

Alex taps her fingers against the table for a moment before she shrugs as well. "I don't know. There's no actual proof."

"Then I say we follow her." Abbie retorts quickly without any type of hesitation. "If she really is cheating then I say we tail her just to get confirmation before anything else."

"Won't she know we're following her? You know how she is."

"Not if we're discreet. I got away with slashing Ziva's tires, didn't I?"

Alex's eyes narrow as her lips purse into a tight, thin line. "Abbie, she came bursting in here ready to beat your ass, AND as retaliation, they slashed your tires, busted out Kim's windshield, and turned my jeep into Miami Beach…"

Abbie rolls her eyes drastically before holding up a finger. "_But_ she didn't for sure know that it was me."

Alex groans before she lets her head drop to the table with an audible 'thump'. She really should consider looking into a new partner in crime.

* * *

"Have you told her yet?" Alex asks curiously, albeit a little hopefully.

"No." Casey responds honestly. She sighs quietly when she sees the brief look of disappointment cross the blonde's face and she shuffles closer under the blankets until their bodies are pressed flush against each other. "Baby, you gave me all of two days. It's not that easy to come out and tell her, I need more time."

Alex sighs quietly, biting on her bottom lip as she stares up at the ceiling. "I know. I don't mean to sound like I'm rushing your or anything." she replies, before continuing on in a more serious tone. "But I really would like for you to tell her soon. I don't want our relationship becoming something of a secret affair."

"And neither do I." Casey states, rolling over to where she is straddling her girlfriend's waist. "I'll tell her when the time is right, but right now, it isn't. I need to figure out what I'm going to say to her. 'Auntie Constance, I'm gay' isn't as easy as it sounds."

"And you aren't at all worried about her coming up here and finding us in bed together?" Alex asks, quirking a curious eyebrow for good measure.

Casey laughs quietly before shaking her head. "Not at all. I don't feel like she'll be home for a while, and Maura told me she would warn me in case she got home early. We don't have anything to worry about." She hums in conclusion, leaning down to press her lips firmly against the other woman's. A moan escapes her lips when she feels hands rubbing up and down her bare sides as she presses herself further into her lover as possible.

Needing air, Alex pulls away from the kiss, and seizes this as an opportunity to switch their positions. She flips them over, pinning Casey to the mattress before she begins pressing lingering kisses to the redhead's neck, smirking when she receives pleasured moans in response.

"Oh god, Alex please." Casey moans, gripping one of Alex's wrists tightly before guiding it down to where she needs it most.

"You're wet." Alex supplies with a smirk, feeling her girlfriend's wetness leak onto her hands.

"And I really need you to do something about it." Casey groans, wiggling uncomfortably, a needy like as Alex's fingers tease her. Just as she is sure that the blonde is about to enter her, there is light knocking on the door that scares her half to death, followed by her aunt's voice.

"Casey, are you in there?"

"Shit!" Casey hisses, all but throwing Alex off of her which causes the taller woman to tumble to the floor. "Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"

"Casey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just got out of the shower! Give me a sec!" Casey calls out, sending a glaring Alex an over apologetic look as she shoves the blonde's clothes into her arms and begins shoving her towards the bathroom. "Please? I'll get rid of her as soon as I can." She whispers, before closing the door.

"Casey?"

"I'm coming!" Casey calls out, throwing on an over sized tea shirt before wrapping her hair in a towel. "You can come in."

The door opens to reveal Constance on the other side. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just barge in like this, but I was looking for you and Maura said you were up here."

"She did, did she…" Casey mumbles before putting a smile on her face. "Yeah, like I said, I just got out of the shower. What's up?"

"I just wanted to check on you. And let you know that your father called and informed me that the rest of your belongings should be arriving soon." Constance explains with a smile.

"Great. Thanks." Casey responds with a nervous smile. "Is that all?"

"Yes that's all. Casey, are you alright? You seem a little on edge about something?"

"Who me? No, no, I'm fine! Everything's great."

Constance doesn't look convinced, but she nods in response anyway. "Well alright. If you need anything or even just a talk, let me know."

Casey grins before nodding her head. "Thanks Auntie." She responds, sighing in relief when her aunt leaves her room, closing the door behind her. She runs a hand through her disheveled hair before making her way over to the bathroom, where she pulls open the door to find Alex clad in her bra and jeans. "Sorry about that."

"You didn't toss me my shirt." Alex answers flatly as she exits the bathroom, rolling her eyes when she feels herself being tugged back.

"It's probably somewhere under my bed, but you don't need it." Casey purrs, her fingers already working on the zipper of Alex's jeans when she feels hands stop her. "What?"

"I have to go." The taller woman replies, kneeling under the bed where she finds her shirt and pulls her head through before she begins searching for her phone.

Casey frowns in genuine confusion before shaking her head. "I don't understand."

"I just gotta go. Sandy and JJ are expecting me." Alex states before slipping her discarded phone into her pocket.

"Okay, but be careful."

"Yeah, don't want Constance to see me." Alex trails off, rolling her eyes before slipping out of the room.

Casey flops down onto the bed pulling her knees up to her chin before she scowls and shoots off of her bed, but not before pulling on the necessary amount of clothing. She storms down the hall and barges into her cousin's room without even bothering to knock. "What the hell is your problem?"

Maura mutes her television and puts her laptop to the side before she raises her eyebrows. "I'm sorry?"

"You said you'd warn me when Constance got home, instead you told her I was in my room. You sent her in there on purpose."

"I did not,"

"Oh you so did." Casey retorts, rolling her eyes. "Why are you so jealous?"

Maura's mouth falls open before she snaps it shut immediately. "Jealous?"

"Yes, jealous." Casey repeats with a frown. "Why can't you be happy that I'm happy with Alex? Wasn't it you who told me I needed to make friends?"

"Yes, I did. And I am not jealous. I think it's wonderful that you've made new friends." Maura responds with a shrug as she picks up her laptop once again.

"Then why did you intentionally screw me over just then?"

"I forgot."

"Bullshit."

Maura's jaw clenches as she lifts her eyes from computer. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't swear at me. I was wrapped up with what I was doing I did not think to hold mother off when she asked me where you were. Forgive me if I neglected to lie for you."

Casey rolls her eyes before folding her arms tightly across her chest. "You're a prick, Maura. And you're a hypocrite. I can see that you're jealous and now it's up to you to accept it and move on."

"If you're going to stand there and call me names then get out of my room."

"No problem." And with that, Casey storms out of the room, nearly slamming it behind her as she storms back to her own with an obvious aura of frustration.

* * *

**Later**

"Where've you been?" Serena asks curiously from her spot on the couch as her stepsister quietly glides through their house at a less than godly hour.

"Out." Kim responds, having gotten over the immediate shock of someone being awake at this hour.

"You've been 'out' like this for the past six nights." Serena exclaims as she stands up. "And I know that you haven't been with Emily because even she doesn't know what's going on. Where've you been, Kimberly?"

At the use of her first name, Kim glowers before rolling her eyes. "It's not any of your business where I've been." She responds, crossing her arms as she heads for the stairs. "I'm going to bed."

"Not until you tell me where you were." Serena exclaims, positioning herself between the brunette and the stairs.

"Serena, seriously. Leave me alone. I just want to get some sleep."

"Are you having an affair?"

Kim frowns at the absurd question as she shakes her head. "What did you just ask me?"

Serena bites down on her bottom lip before sighing heavily. "A bunch of the others have noticed how you've been acting lately and Abbie…well, she mentioned a talk that she and Alex had earlier. I told her they were being ridiculous and I said I'd find out before they ended up doing something stupid."

"So they don't trust me." Kim scoffs as she folds her arms and shakes her head. "And now you don't trust me either. Does Emily even trust me?"

"Kim, why won't you just tell me where you were? If you are seeing someone else then I'm sure that there is a logical explanation for why you're doing this…"

"Is this seriously happening…"

"I mean, if there's a problem between you and Em then I'll be more than happy to help you guys out and…"

"Serena…"

"If you just tell her up front then I'm sure it'll be worth fixing and…"

"I'm not having an affair Serena."

"Oh…well if you think that Emily is the one who's cheating then-"

"I have cancer you idiot."

Words freeze in Serena's mouth as her eyes widen. "What…?" she croaks.

Kim sighs quietly before she drags a hand through her hair. "I found out about a month ago when I went to the doctor. She recommended a night clinic that I could go to because I'm too afraid to go anywhere during the day. I don't want people to see me."

"Why didn't you tell me? Or Mom?" the blonde whispers, her heart pounding in her chest.

"I wasn't ready and I'm still not, so I'd appreciate it if you don't tell Mom or anyone else."

"Where is it…? The…the…"

"It started out as a brain tumor, but it's escalated. That's why I'm so tired all the time. I get back late from the clinic and I wake up later than normal. That's also why I'm late for practice. Plus, surfing tires me out."

Serena shakes her head as she finally manages to get her mouth to form a proper sentence. "Kim, you can't surf. Not like this."

Kim scowls deeply before she grabs the blonde's shoulders, halfway shaking her. "Yes I can, and I will and you aren't going to tell anyone what I just told you; got it?"

"Kim, you aren't well!" Serena attempts to argue.

"I'm fine right now and I'm going to surf. You aren't going to tell anyone. Do you understand?" Kim demands, scowling when Serena doesn't respond. "Serena! Do. You. understand."

Serena bites her bottom lip before she hangs her head. "Fine…" she sighs relenting and submitting to her defeat. "I won't tell anyone…"

**Leave your thoughts? **


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